Gone
by lil prongs chicky
Summary: Ron glared at his headmaster. When the teen spoke his voice was dangerously low. "Either you do something to find him or we will."
1. Birthday Surprises

Chapter 1

Harry clicked Hedwig's empty cage closed and tossed the last of his school things into his trunk. The Gryffindor stacked the trunk and cage under his window, tucked his wand into his inside jacket pocket and leaned his Firebolt against the wall.

After everything else was packed or thrown out Harry reached into his desk and pulled out a letter he'd been working on periodically throughout the last few days. When he first started Harry had no clue what to write. He'd spent hours staring blankly at the clean parchment before him and nothing crossed his mind. More then once Harry started the letter only to crumple it up and toss it in the trash. Just when he was going to give up on it entirely inspiration hit like a can of yellow paint.

Two days ago the summer had reached its highest temperatures in over five years. Harry had been outside taking a break from painting the outside of the house even though it wasn't a bright idea in the blistering heat. Vernon had come home angry and decided that he wanted an off white house instead of a pale yellow one. He'd made Harry start completely over. As he had not yet turned 17 Harry was unable to use magic outside of school and repainting the house took hours.

That night the teen had sat at his desk and began writing furiously. He wrote every nasty thing he'd ever wanted to say to his aunt, uncle, and cousin. It wasn't until Harry reached the end of the third page that he realized that there were a few splotchy parts marking up his letter where angry tears had escaped. Writing had brought up painful memory after painful memory. The most hurtful by far was the still raw emotion from losing Sirius.

The Dursley's had never been a family to Harry and they'd known him for his entire life but Sirius had hardly known Harry for less then a day when he offered to have Harry live with him four long years ago. It was cruel that Sirius had been ripped out of Harry's life but the Dursley's remained to constantly remind him what a burden he was to everyone and how worthless he was.

The finished letter ended up being three rolls of parchment long. Harry had read through his work twice in the last couple of hours and he wasn't completely sure if he actually wanted to leave it for his family to find. What difference would it make? After a short debate Harry set the letter on his pillow where Aunt Petunia would see it if she would come to strip the sheets or something.

The small clock on Harry's desk shone bright in the dimly lit room.

11:45

Harry shook his head to try and rid his mind of all the memories fighting their way forward. He shoved the thoughts to the back of his mind and looked out the window expectantly.

Not long ago he'd received a letter from Dumbledore explaining that on the eve of Harry's seventeenth birthday someone would come to pick him up around midnight. It didn't mention who would come or where they would go and honestly Harry didn't care about the details. All he knew was that this would be the last time he left Number 4 Privite Drive and he couldn't be happier. It had been Dumbledore who suggested Harry write a good-bye letter to his relatives in the first place saying that it might bring some sort of closure. Harry didn't understand but the letter was written and he was packed, all that mattered now was how soon he'd be able to leave.

The young Gryffindor paced around his room for a while, not knowing what to do with himself. He'd originally planned to sleep until someone came for him but that idea had been squashed.

Harry went through a mental checklist to make sure he'd packed everything.

11:55

Harry could feel his heart rate beginning to speed up with anticipation.

11:57

The Gryffindor bounced excitedly on the balls of his feet and took deep breaths, trying to calm his racing heart. This was the last time he'd ever leave Privet Drive. He never had to come back, ever! This was already one of the best birthday's Harry had ever had in his entire life.

12:00

Harry punched the air excitedly and pulled out his wand. He shot sparks into the air and levitated all his belongings to the other side of his room so they sat beside the door just to feel the rush of power course through his veins.

Knock, Knock, BOOM

Harry jumped violently. His door fell to the ground exposing three silhouettes in his doorway. Harry was relieved the Dursley's had gone to visit relatives in another part of London or else Uncle Vernon would be storming up the stairs to complain about the racket.

Lupin stepped forward shaking his head with his hand still raised in the action of knocking on Harry's door. Harry heard Tonks laughing behind him and the irritated grunt of Moody.

"I never really liked that door anyway. It squeaked too much." Harry said with a shrug. Lupin and Tonks laughed. The werewolf stepped forward and pulled Harry into an embrace.

"Happy birthday, Harry." Lupin said warmly. The pair broke apart and Harry beamed up at the man.

"Thanks Moony." He said just before he was pulled into another hug.

"Happy birthday!" Tonks cried happily. Harry hugged the witch back and thanked her as well.

"Come on let's get on with this. We're already behind schedule." Moody grumbled. Tonks waved him off and began shrinking all of Harry's belongings and tucking them into the knapsack she had on her back. Harry thanked her and grabbed his Firebolt.

"I didn't expect all of you to be coming. I just thought one or two people would come." Harry admitted as the group descended the stairs. When they reached the bottom step Harry realized he'd spoken to soon.

"This looks oddly familiar." He muttered. Lupin and Tonks chuckled. Just as in Harry's fifth year when a large group of Order members volunteered to pick the Gryffindor up Harry could see the faces of people he knew and others he didn't. This was a smaller group as there were only about 15 people but it was still a bit of a shock to see so many people in the house. Harry was able to greet a few before Moody silenced everyone.

"This isn't a social event, everyone shut your yaps!" he snapped. Silence fell and everyone turned to face the ex-auror.

"The protection surrounding this house has just been lifted. If our sources are correct we should be attacked within the next few minutes."

Tonks leaned closer to Harry.

"I wish he'd stop sugar coating everything and be a little blunter don't you?" she asked with a wink. Harry chuckled before turning his attention back to Moody who was double checking that everyone knew the plan.

"Group A will head due north. Group B you're headed south. You are the diversion groups. Group C is to fly in a wide circle around Potter's group."

Moody looked at the clock hanging on the living room wall.

"Everyone get outside and be ready to go on my signal." Moody commanded.

The group obeyed and soon everyone was standing in a long line down the middle of the street. Harry could hardly contain his excitement. He couldn't wait to feel the rush of the wind in his face or the thrill shoot through his veins as they rose higher into the sky. Harry was pulled out of his daydream by the distinctive sound of a whip cracking over twenty consecutive times. Dark hooded figures appeared on both sides of the street.

"Get in the air!" Harry heard Tonks order him.

Harry followed Lupin and Tonks 100 feet straight into the air. He saw aurors circling them and fighting off the Death Eaters that had also brought brooms. Harry raised his wand.

"No Harry, don't fight just focus on getting out of here!" Lupin called to the teen from the right.

"We're way out numbered here. We have to fight!" Harry argued.

"That's not part of the plan." Tonks called from Harry's left.

"What is the plan?" Harry snapped.

"Get you to safety." Lupin and Tonks answered together.

Harry sighed heavily. It seemed like he was always the center of major plans and courses of action but he seldom actually got to take part in anything. Everyone wanted Harry to sit in a corner and let them protect him.

_Like Sirius did._

Through the deafening wind Harry could just make out the sounds of battles edging closer. Even though Harry's broom had superior speed Tonks and Lupin were still on either side of him. If Harry really wanted to he could lose them easily since they were only riding Nimbus 2000s and neither of them were very strong flyers in the first place.

A displaced curse cracked over head and Harry instinctively ducked. Out of the corners of his eyes he saw Lupin and Tonks draw their wands.

"Harry keep flying straight. Another group will meet you after about 100 yards!" Lupin called before turning away and zooming off to meet an on coming cluster of Death Eaters. Tonks nodded at Harry and turned to follow her fiancé.

For a moment Harry actually considered doing what she said. Then he heard it.

It had come as such a shock to him that Harry thought he might have imagined it but then he heard it again and he knew he wasn't dreaming. It sent shivers down his spine and sent his heart racing with rage. Harry had heard it that night at the Ministry of Magic when Sirius was killed. It was the laugh of Bellatrix Lestrange.

Harry jerked his broom around without slowing down. Heart racing, Harry laid his wand flat in his palm.

"Point me Bellatrix Lestrange." He muttered.

The wand spun on his hand and froze when it pinpointed its target. Harry saw the witch battling Lupin a few yards away. Without a second's hesitation the Gryffindor tightened his grip on his wand and sped towards Bellatrix with all the speed he could urge out of his broom.

A spell caught the werewolf square in the chest and unseated him from his broom just as Harry skidded to a stop about ten feet away.

"No!" Harry cried out.

He flattened himself against his broom and sped towards his former professor. Bellatrix's shrill laugh followed him as he sped through the air.

Lupin had fallen over twenty feet before an auror caught him. The impact sent the pair plummeting another ten feet. Harry breathed a heavy sigh of relief. A bright red jet of light shot close to his shoulder, brining him back to the battle.

Harry spun his broom around and saw three Death Eaters soaring after him at once. Thinking fast Harry angled his broom down and sped towards the ground. The Death Eaters followed.

"Expelliarmus!' One of them shouted.

"Protego!" Harry cried.

"Impedimenta!"

Harry did a barrel roll and shot a disarming spell over his shoulder as soon as he was upright again. It missed but broke through the arrow formation the Death Eaters had been flying in.

The ground was rushing up to meet him at an amazing speed. Harry knew he'd only have one shot if this was to work and one wrong move would result in multiple bone breakage. Harry looked back to see how far the Death Eaters were behind him and saw that another five had been added to the original three. Now eight Death Eaters were hot on his tail. With the aurors and Order members so out numbered it wasn't a surprise that so many Death Eaters had been able to break away.

Finally, about five feet from the ground Harry jerked his broom out of its dive and continued flying parallel with the ground. The series of sickening crunches told him that a few Death Eaters hadn't been able to pull out of their dives fast enough. Harry looked back and saw only five of them pursued him now. Spells zoomed past him. A few came uncomfortably close but none managed to hit him.

Preparing for his next move, Harry took a deep breath, eased his broom down another three feet and rolled so that he was hanging upside down. After a three count he released his broom and fell to the ground. As he skidded along on his back the Death Eaters soared over him.

"Stupefy! Stupefy! Stupefy" Harry cried.

His wand tip exploded with red light and blasted three Death Eaters off their brooms. The other two had managed to swerve around the line of fire. Harry jumped up quickly, ignoring the shooting pains in his back from skidding about ten feet across the grass.

The last two Death Eaters circled around the Gryffindor from the sky like hawks circling their prey. Harry's heart was racing so fast he was sure it would pop right out of his chest.

"Impedimenta!" He shouted.

The Death Eater swatted the curse away with ease.

"Stupefy!"

Harry rolled out of the way and came up firing.

"Sectumsempra!" he shouted.

"Protego!"

The Death Eaters rose a little higher in the air and Harry took it as an opportunity to run. His short flight had taken Harry above a small country town where each house was separated by acres of land with the nearest one being about fifty yards away. Harry ran towards it as fast as he could. Suddenly he felt two curses collide with his back, sending him flying head over heels. He cried out in pain as the curses coursed through his body. His cries were silenced as he crashed into the side of the large SUV parked just outside the house and all the breath was knocked from his lungs. Harry felt something warm dripping down the side of his head but he couldn't find the strength to lift his arm to wipe it away. He barely registered the two dark figures landing a few feet away as darkness closed in around him.

5


	2. News and arrivals

Chapter 2

Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were all helping to re-stock shelves at Fred and George's shop.

"I'm hungry, is it time for a lunch break yet?" Ron grumbled as he finished putting the last of the Skiving Snackboxes on their shelf.

"We just had breakfast, Ron." Hermione said.

"That was ages ago." Ron complained as he hopped up on the counter beside the register.

"It's only been two hours." Ginny reminded him.

She handed Hermione the last of the exploding deodorant sticks.

Fred and George walked in from the back half of the store where they lived.

"Hello all." Fred greeted them.

He received warm hellos from his sister and Hermione but Ron just grumbled about working too hard and not getting any food.

"We really appreciate all the work you three have been doing around here." George said.

Hermione waved it off.

"It's our pleasure." She said.

Ginny nodded.

"Just remember how much work we've been doing when Christmas comes around." She said.

Her brothers laughed.

"Don't worry, Gin you lot won't be disappointed with your gifts this year." Fred said with a wink.

Suddenly the fire place beside the door the twins had just come out of flared and Mr. Weasley stepped through looking stressed.

"Come quickly, something's happened." He said.

The teens barely hesitated before following the man back through the fire.

At the Burrow the group was greeted by the grim faces of Lupin, Tonks, and Dumbledore. Ron looked around the room.

"Where's Harry? Wasn't he supposed to come with you?" he asked.

When Tonks hiccupped and began cry into Lupin's shoulder an icy chill of dread shot down the teens' backs.

"Maybe you should all sit down." Dumbledore suggested.

"No we don't need to sit. We need to know where Harry is." Ron argued.

"Ron, dear please." Mrs. Weasley begged.

Hearing the fear in his mother's voice Ron decided to sit beside her. She wrapped an arm around his shoulders as well as Ginny's when the girl sat on her mother's other side. Hermione sat next to Ron and held his hand tightly. Fred and George joined their father who put his arms over their shoulders. Dumbledore began to explain in grim voice.

"Last night Harry was scheduled to be picked up by a group of Order members and volunteer aurors." Dumbledore paused for a moment to collect his thoughts.

"Moments before take off they were ambushed by an overwhelming number of Death Eaters."

Everyone felt the wind get ripped out of their lungs as terrible possibilities flashed through their minds.

"They managed to separate Harry from Order protection rather quickly. Eight of them pursued him but after quick thinking on Harry's part he disabled six of them. According to one auror who had witnessed the last moments of the battle the two remaining Death Eaters struck Harry down with two curses to his back. He was knocked unconscious and the Death Eaters apparated away with him before anything could be done." Dumbleldore explained.

Mrs. Weasley wept openly into Ron's hair and pulled Ginny closer to her. Ron was shocked into silence and sat staring at Dumbledore as if hoping this was all a sick joke. Hermione cried into his shoulder.

"S-so where is he now?" Arthur asked.

Dumbledore shook his head hopelessly.

"It is impossible to tell but we expect he has been taking to Voldemort's." He explained softly.

"Then we have to go after him. We have to do something!" Ron bellowed.

He jumped up though Hermione and his mother still held his hands.

"We are searching but…." Dumbledore began but Ron cut him off.

"No! Searching isn't good enough! Ask Snape. Ask one of the Death Eater's you've already caught. Make them tell you where the lair is! DO SOMETHING TO BRING HARRY BACK!" Ron cried.

He fell to his knees as tears streamed down his face. Ron pulled his hands free and pounded the ground with his fists, resting his forehead on the top of them as he cried. Fred and George kneeled on either side of him, hugging him tightly.

"Unfortunately Snape's loyalties were made clear last year. He is no longer on the light side. The Death Eaters already in confinement were not ranked high enough to ever have access to Voldemort's lair. Their information will be useless." Dumbledore said quietly.

Tears shone in his eyes as well but he fought to keep them from falling. Mrs. Weasley looked up at the clock hanging above the mantel. She let out a choked sob when she realized for the first time that Harry's hand was pointed at 'mortal peril'.

7


	3. seventeen going on eleven?

Harry's head spun violently

Chapter 3

Harry's head spun violently. His brain was so scrambled the sounds going through his ears all mixed together into a soft roar. Though his eyes were closed Harry could tell there was a bright white light being held in front of his face. Harry scrunched his eyes closed tighter, willing the darkness that had just released him to consume him once more.

"Time to wake up, baby Potter's nap time is over." A sickeningly sweet voice called.

It took Harry a moment to process the sentence but once he did he opened his eyes. The light in front of his face turned out to be coming from the tip of something a woman held in her hand. Once she saw Harry was awake she laughed shrilly and doused the light. Harry blinked several times before the spots in front of his eyes disappeared. He tried to bring his arms up to rub his eyes but found his hands bound to the bed he lay on.

"What's going on?" he cried, "Who are you? Where am I?" he asked hurriedly.

"You are in the Dark Lord's lair Harry. You've just awoken from a horrible battle during which you were knocked unconscious." A voice so low it was closer to a snake's hiss then a human voice came from somewhere behind Harry.

Due to his restraints the teen was unable to turn to see who was speaking to him.

"What battle? I don't remember anything about any battles." Harry said.

"The curses that you were hit with attacked your brain. They were meant to merely disable you from making quick decisions or fighting back but something went wrong and your memories were destroyed." The owner of the voice remained hidden and Harry continued to struggle to find him.

"Where are you? What do you want with me? My aunt and uncle are going to be really angry if I'm not home before Dudley." Harry said.

If Harry hadn't been bound to the bed he would have jumped about five feet off it when he saw the hideous face of the man who came out of the shadows. His face was like that of a snake. Where a nose should have been there were only two slits. Blood red eyes bore into Harry's emerald ones as he drew closer to the teen.

"Come now, Harry. You don't mean to tell me you don't even remember me." Voldemort said.

Struck speechless by Voldemort's face, Harry could only shake his head.

"What a shame. I had hoped the curse hadn't affected you too badly but it appears it is worse then I feared. I only hope your magic hasn't been affected as well." Voldemort said.

"Magic? There's no such thing as magic." Harry argued quietly.

He'd heard his uncle say a hundred times that magic was just the stuff in stories and that it didn't exist.

Suddenly Bellatrix burst into laughter.

"He truly remembers nothing!" she exclaimed.

Voldemort silenced her and took her place at Harry's bedside.

"How old are you, Harry?" he asked.

Harry looked perplexed by the question but answered anyway.

"I just turned 11." Harry answered.

Bellatrix laughed again. Voldemort silenced her once more and demanded that she join him outside the room. Once the door was shut Bellatrix giggled wildly.

"He knows nothing. He recalls no magic; he knows nothing of the prophecy. He has no idea who we are. It is as if the last seven years haven't happened." She exclaimed. "It will be simple to kill him and you will be able to take over the wizarding world unopposed."

"You fool Albus Dumbledore still lives due to Severus's failure to kill him. As long as he remains there will always be rebels with the foolish hope that they can defeat me."

"That old man is nothing compared to you my Lord. Potter was the only one with the power to destroy you and now is your chance to kill him!"

"If I kill the boy Dumbledore will attack out of vengeance. He will not tread as lightly as he has these past years. No, the boy shall not die." Voldemort said.

"Then what will you do with him? He's useless without magic." Bellatrix asked.

"On the contrary Bella; I have spent the last seven years of my life trying to kill this boy because he is my only threat. But now he has no recollection of his loyalties to the light or to Dumbledore. Harry Potter is no longer my enemy."

Voldemort's eyes gleamed. He turned and went back into the room with Bellatrix coming behind. Harry was staring at the ceiling, not knowing what else to do. Voldemort walked up to his bedside and waited until Harry acknowledged him.

"I don't want to be bound to the bed." Harry said.

Voldemort waved his hand and the bonds fell to the floor. Harry stared at them in amazement.

"How did you do that?" he asked.

"Power." Voldemort answered.

Harry shook his head as he sat up.

"Are you talking about magic? My uncle always says there's no such thing as magic." Harry said.

Voldemort's eyes flashed.  
"Well your uncle was wrong." He said. Voldemort pulled out his wand.

"Accio cloak." He said.

The cloak of the guard standing on the far side of the room flew into Voldemort's outstretched hand. Harry stared at it in awe.

"I wish I could do that. I'd get done with chores so much faster." He said.

"You can do it Harry. You have the power. I will teach you how to use your magic for far greater purposes then mere muggle work. Under my instruction you will tap into power you never knew you had. Will you allow me to do this?" Voldemort asked.

He gestured at Bellatrix and the witch handed over a wand. The Dark Lord handed it to Harry and waited in silence as the teen studied it for a moment.

"Yes." Harry clutched the wand tightly and felt a sudden pounding in his head. His hands flew to his temples and his wand fell to the ground. A pained gasp escaped his lips. A white light flashed before his eyes and suddenly he was no longer in Voldemort's lair. Instead he stood in a dark shop with shelves of long slender boxes lining every wall.

_-flash- Harry was standing in front of a desk with a wand in hand –flash- a candle exploded –flash- an old man handed him another wand and told him to flick it –flash- Harry felt energy flow from his hand through his entire body. _

Harry gasped and looked up at Voldemort and Bellatrix who was staring at him.

"This really is my wand. I remember the day I got it. Holly and phoenix feather core, eleven inches long. " Harry said breathlessly.

He reached down and picked up his fallen wand. When he stood again he took a deep breath. He relished in the warm sensation flowing through his body.

"Teach me everything." He said.

Voldemort nodded.

"Tomorrow. It is too late to begin now."

Voldemort explained that this would be Harry's room for as long as he stayed at the Lair. The guards followed the Dark Lord and Bellatrix out of the room leaving Harry alone with his thoughts.

10


	4. Power Plots

Chapter 4

The next morning Harry woke to the smell of pancakes, eggs, bacon, and toast. He sat up, put on his glasses and found his plate of food and a cup of orange juice sitting on his bedside table. After breakfast Bellatrix entered the room. Upon seeing her, another headache struck Harry full force. The room around him disappeared and was quickly replaced with a large, dark room. A swirling veil stood in the center of the room and the only face Harry could see clearly was Bellatrix's.

_-flash- Bella shouted a curse that was blocked by a man –flash- he shot a return curse that missed-flash- Bellatrix cried out the killing curse and the man fell into the veil-flash- Harry fought her in the Ministry lobby. –flash-_

Harry jerked his head up as the memories stopped coming. He looked at Bellatrix curiously.

"I fought you." Harry said. "Two years ago at the Ministry." He breathed.

Bellatrix froze at her spot by the door. Voldemort had warned her to cover any memories that should come back to Harry. She nodded sadly.

"You're right. We did fight. Dumbledore put you under the imperious curse and forced you to fight against me." She lied smoothly.

Harry's eyes went wide.

"Who's Dumbledore?" he asked.

"An evil man who's always spreading lies about our Lord. He tries to get the wizarding world to think that we are evil. More then once he's tried to kill you but you manage to get away."

"How?"

Bellatrix inwardly cringed. Voldemort had given her specific orders to make Harry believe that he was very powerful with the idea that he might be able to tap into more inner magic that Dumbledore had managed to close off.  
"You've got a lot of power, Harry. During training today you'll see just how much."

"But I'm only eleven. How much power could I have?" Harry asked sadly.

"You're seventeen. Yesterday was your birthday." Bellatrix reminded him. Harry grasped his head as the memory of him jumping up and down in his room and wielding his wand around entered his brain. He looked up at her with wide eyes.

"Wow." He breathed.

Bellatrix nodded and gestured for Harry to follow her. Harry obeyed and the witch led him to a huge empty room. One wall had a large glass wall from behind which Voldemort could watch his Death Eaters practice. He wasn't there now but Bellatrix informed her student that later that day the Dark Lord would come to check what kind of progress Harry was making.

"I don't think I can do this." Harry said looking down at his wand.

"Crucio." Bellatrix only held the curse long enough for Harry to feel the pain shot through his body.

He gasped and looked at her in disbelief.

"From this moment on you will not show weakness." She said.

"But…" Harry began.

"Crucio."

Again the curse wasn't held long enough for Harry to collapse from pain but it was enough to catch his attention.

"No back talking. You will do what I say when I say it, no questions asked." Bellatrix said.

"Okay." Harry answered.

"Crucio. You will always refer to your superiors in respectful tones and address them as sir or ma'am. Am I clear?"

"Yes."

"Crucio."

"AHH, yes ma'am."

Harry cringed when Bellatrix raised her wand again. He was completely thrown by her sudden attitude change.

"Alright lesson one. Defense…" Bellatrix said.

The next few hours were a blur of pain and small victories for Harry. Anytime he made a mistake Bella would curse him until he got it right. He quickly learned a long list of defensive spells as well as a few offensive ones.

Now Harry stood with his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. Sweat coated his face as well as a few scratches and a bruise or two. He looked up at Bellatrix with tired eyes.

"Can we take a break?" he asked breathlessly.

"Crucio."

In his exhausted state Harry wasn't able to remain standing even through the quick curse.

"What did I tell you about weakness?" Bellatrix snapped.

"Weakness is death." Harry recited.

The witch nodded.

"Exactly, now stand up, let's do it again."

Harry groaned but quickly stopped when Bellatrix raised her wand.

"What did I tell you about listening to me?"

"Do without question." Harry said quickly.

He straightened up and readied himself.

"Ready." Bellatrix said. Harry nodded and focused. "Duel!"

"Stupefy!" Bellatrix cried.

"Protego." Harry blocked the spell.

"Impedimenta."

"Protego."

"Expelliarmus."

"Protego."

Bellatrix aimed her wand towards the ceiling.

"Reducto!" The rock ceiling above Harry began to crumble instantly.

"Protego Maxima!"

A large force field surrounded the teen, protecting him from the falling debris.

"Expelliarmus!" Harry cried without waiting for the dust to settle. Caught off guard Bella wasn't able to throw up a shield and felt her wand get ripped out of her hand. The dust settled and Harry smiled triumphantly.

"Wipe that smirk off your face and give me back my wand." Bellatrix snapped. Harry obeyed and sat down on one of the larger pieces of rock that had fallen.

"What a rush!" he said excitedly.

"Don't get too excited. That was just a practice run. The real thing is a lot more intense." Bellatrix explained, conjuring up two glasses of water. Harry took his and emptied it greedily.

"What's next?" he asked.

Bellatrix looked at him curiously.

"I thought you wanted a break."

"Well I just had one. Come on I want to learn more, please!" Harry begged.

"We've covered the easy stuff. If we continue right now it'll be tough." Bellatrix said.

Harry shrugged it off.

"I can take it."

Bellatrix looked at him with a raised eyebrow but finished her own glass of water and tossed it over her shoulder. The glass cup shattered against the concrete floor.

"If you're sure, Potter." She said.

The pair stood and Bellatrix began to explain the finer points of the Dark Arts. Voldemort watched from the observation room. Snape stood beside him. The potions master had been warned to avoid Harry in case it stirred up any memories that they wouldn't be able to cover with a simple lie.

"Forgive me my Lord but I'm afraid I still don't understand why you do not simply kill him."

"Are you questioning my decisions, Severus?" Voldemort asked.

"Of course not my Lord I was simply…"

"You will do well to keep your opinions to yourself or face the consequences of your insolence." Voldemort hissed. Snape bowed.

"Yes my Lord. I apologize."

The pair watched in silence as Harry fell repeatedly under the curses Bellatrix kept casting on him. The witch cast the counter curse and explained the proper defensive way once more.

"Bellatrix certainly seems to be enjoying this tutoring lesson far more than the others." Snape pointed out.

Voldemort nodded.

"Most of the other Death Eater children are fools. Harry is a far better student."

Snape kept his scoff to himself. He'd taught the boy for the last several years and nothing in that time has proven Harry a good student.

Harry's brow was furrowed in concentration as he waited for his teacher to shoot the next curse. This time he flicked his wrist perfectly and sent the curse flying back at Bellatrix who sent up a shield which absorbed the curse smoothly. She nodded once and Harry beamed and punched the air excitedly. He was then brought to his knees by a torture curse.

"Have pride only in what you've done for our Lord not in personal victory." Bellatrix reminded him.

Harry nodded as he painfully pushed himself into a standing position.

"That is enough training for the day Potter. "

She left the room and Harry fell back against a large chuck of fallen ceiling. He groaned from his aching muscles and the cuts littering his skin. From the observation room Snape nodded.

"He may be arrogant but I must admit he is learning quickly for having no memory of any of his primary studies." He admitted.

A disgusted expression crossed his features as he realized he'd just complimented the Gryffindor.

Voldemort nodded.

"But there is more power in him somewhere. I want to find it." He said.

Snape raised an eyebrow.

"Why would you want Potter to be more powerful? He is already rather difficult to…." Snape began but Voldemort cut him off sharply.

"Potter is no longer my worry, Severus. I have decided to make him more powerful and once he is strong enough I will steal his magic for my own!"

14


	5. Articles and promises

Chapter 5

Hermione knocked once on Ron's door. It was almost 3 o'clock in the morning but she knew her boyfriend would be awake. Ever since Harry's kidnapping a week ago no one had been sleeping very much, least of all Ron.

Even though her knock wasn't answered Hermione pushed the door open and walked inside the dark room. She sat on the edge of Ron's bed and laid her hand on his shoulder to let him know she was there. The red head pulled the blanket off his face and lifted it up so Hermione could join him under the covers. Hermione slid in beside him and turned so that they were facing each other even though she couldn't see his face in the dark. Neither of them spoke. Ron pulled Hermione closer to him and rested his forehead lightly against hers.

"We have to get him back." Ron whispered.

"We will, even if we have to do it alone." Hermione answered. The pair fell silent and slowly they fell into a restless sleep.

The next morning Ginny walked into her brother's room and found him and Hermione wrapped up under the covers. If it had been any other time she would have commented on the compromising position but not today. Instead she merely tapped Hermione on the shoulder. The brunette jumped slightly and turned to Ginny.

"Mum has breakfast ready." Ginny said softly.

Hermione nodded and carefully slid out from under Ron's arm. The girls decided that he could use the extra sleep and would save him a breakfast plate for when he finally did get up.

Downstairs the Weasley parents were sitting at the kitchen table with Fred and George. The twins had been around a lot more this passed week, deciding that their joke shop could wait until Harry was home again since he was the entire reason they'd even had enough money to truly start the business in the first place. No one ever mentioned the small chance that Harry might not come home. He'd been in the Dark Lord's hands for an entire week now and his chances of survival were quickly running low.

"Morning girls." Molly said, sipping at her tea.

"Morning Mrs. Weasley." Hermione answered sitting beside Fred.

"Morning Mum." Ginny said taking the seat beside George.

Mr. Weasley offered the same greetings as his wife and received similar responses in return. A heavy silence fell over the room but no one felt the desire to break it. Mr. Weasley turned the page of the paper and sighed.

"The Prophet's finally gotten word of Harry." He said. He laid the paper out on the table to let his family read it.

_The boy-who-lived_

_Gone Missing!_

_Tragedy has struck the wizarding world. Harry Potter, 17, has been kidnapped by the Dark Lord. On the eve of his seventeenth birthday Potter was scheduled to be moved from his muggle home to the undisclosed location of the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix. Eye witnesses saw Potter battling eight Death Eaters. He managed to take out six of them before the final two _

_struck him down with dark curses to the back. Our young hero has been missing for over a week now and few know what to expect. Potter is known for his narrow escapes but has his luck finally run out? Has our only chance at winning this war finally fallen or is he still out there trying to find his way back to us? Unfortunately, only time will tell._

Hermione looked up at Mr. and Mrs. Weasley in horror.

"They don't actually think Harry's…" her voice cracked and she started again, "Harry couldn't possibly be…."

Mr. Weasley sighed heavily.

"It's an unfortunate possibility we'll have to face at some point Hermione." He said.

Ginny shook her head in disbelief.

"No." she said softly.

Mrs. Weasley extended her arms to her daughter.

"Come here sweetie." She said but Ginny jumped away from her angrily.

"No!" Ginny exclaimed. "We can't even think that way. If we give up then there won't be any chance of finding him. He's out there somewhere and he's alive. I know it and no one better say otherwise."

Ginny turned on her heel and ran from the house. Hermione nodded.

"She's right. If we give up hope then everyone else will do the same and we can't let that happen. We owe it to Harry not to let anyone give up on him." She looked each of the adults square in the eye before following her friend out of the house.

2


	6. Newfound talent

Chapter 6

Over a week had passed since Harry had lost his memory and turned into Voldemort's greatest follower. Every other day Bellatrix took the raven haired boy into the training room and taught him even more spells. On his days off he could be found sitting in the library reading up on other dark curses and practicing the wand movements associated with them.

Today was a training day and Harry lay on the ground breathing heavily.

"Have you finally had enough, Potter?" Bellatrix asked. She stood over him with a triumphant smile. Harry's wand twirled between her fingers.

_The Dark Lord was wrong. Potter will never be anything more than pathetic._

Harry pushed himself back up into a standing position, ignoring the pain shooting through his entire body. He glared at the witch. Suddenly a voice filled his head.

_'She underestimates your power as everyone always has. Search deep within yourself to find your true potential.' _ Harry recognized the voice as Voldemort's. He looked over at the observation window and knew the Dark Lord was watching from the other side of the one way glass. Harry nodded once and turned back to Bellatrix who was still smiling and twirling his wand. Closing his eyes Harry focused all his strength inward. Warmth spread from his heart throughout his entire body. Harry felt a grin form across his lips as the power surged through his veins. He opened his eyes and was satisfied to see a nervous gleam in Bellatrix's eyes.

"Impedimenta!" he cried.

The witch was blasted back twenty feet into the concrete all on the far side of the room. She slid to the ground and lay unmoving. Her wand as well as Harry's rolled from her grasp. Harry fell to his knees, feeling weak from the immense power he'd just used. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Voldemort looking down at him approvingly.

"Excellent work." He said.

Harry nodded as he tried to catch his breath.

"She's not…" he asked breathlessly.

"She is still alive but completely unconscious."

Harry nodded and stood on shaky legs.

"Get some rest and join me in my quarters in an hour." Voldemort ordered.

Harry nodded again and summoned his wand back to him before making his slow way out of the training room.

Voldemort walked over to his unconscious follower.

"It seems you are the only pathetic one now Bella." He hissed.

One hour later Harry met the Dark Lord in his personal sitting room. The teen was refreshed but still shocked by the shear power he'd managed to produce.

"I was not at all surprised by your performance today Harry." Voldemort said.

"Why is that, sir?" Harry asked.

He'd gotten used to Voldemort reading his thoughts and never even questioned why the Dark Lord could do it so easily. Harry also never thought to ask why he felt such powerful memories from seeing or hearing other things but felt nothing about Voldemort himself.

"I have watched you grow over the past seven years into an excellent fighter. When you lost your memories I feared that your powers might suffer as well but you have eased those worries with the work you've put into your training these passed days." Voldemort explained.

"So what next?" Harry asked.

"What do you mean?"

Harry shrugged.

"Well I've been training but for what? You've been pushing me to summon up all this power but why?"

Voldemort sat back in his chair, looking up at the youth with a curious expression.

"What would you like to do?" he asked. Harry shrugged again.

"I dunno. What do the Death Eaters usually do?" he asked.

"I do not think you are ready for that just yet." Voldemort said.

Harry's shoulders slumped.

"But I beat Bellatrix today and I can do wandless magic. Not a lot of people can do that right?" Harry asked.

"It is a rare talent."

"Well then let me use it for something. Let me use it for you."

Voldemort silently weighed his options. On one hand Harry could be killed and Voldemort would not be able to steal the teen's new found powers. On the other hand he could let the boy fight beside his Death Eaters. If Harry should be unmasked it would deliver a powerful blow to all those who view the boy as the wizarding world's hero.

"You will join the Death Eaters on a small raid tomorrow night. It will be dangerous but not as much so as the larger assignments I often issue. If you return mostly unharmed you will have earned your place among their ranks." Voldemort said. Harry beamed.

"Thank you. I won't let you down, my Lord."

Harry bowed quickly as he'd learned to do from Bellatrix.

Voldemort dismissed the teen and sat alone with his thoughts. It seemed no matter what side Harry was on he was driven to please those around him.

_Both an admirable trait and a deadly flaw._

18


	7. Night on the town

Chapter 7

The next night Harry stood among a group of seven Death Eaters on the top of a hill overlooking a small town. Harry felt a chill go down his spine. He turned to Bellatrix.

"Why are you staring at me?" he asked. All though the witch's face was covered by the Death Eater mask Harry could feel her looking at him.

"The Dark Lord does not wish you to be harmed. Make sure you don't do anything stupid." She said. Harry blinked behind his own mask. Bellatrix had completely dodged his question. Was there a reason behind it? Harry decided to ignore it and focused in on the task at hand.

Down below there was a pub right at the edge of town. A man by the name of Richard Braxton had been spotted there several times. Normally this would not have been of any interest to anyone but Braxton was a Death Eater. He had been reportedly offering up information to the Order and the Ministry whenever he was called upon. The Dark Lord could not have this happening and immediately sent out his Death Eaters to take the man's life.

Bellatrix raised her left hand in the air and dropped it again. The Death Eaters began to march down the hill towards the unsuspecting pub. Once they were close enough Bellatrix waved her hand in the air and the group split up. Harry stayed close to the witch as he had been instructed. He tightened the grip on his wand trying not to second guess his rights of being part of this mission.

"Scared Potter?" Bellatrix asked. Harry gasped as pain shot through his head as another memory forced its way forward.

_-flash- Harry stood on a stage across from a boy with platinum blonde hair. Something in Harry's mind told him that this boy was Draco Malfoy. –flash- the boy's faced off. Malfoy smirked "Scared Potter?" Harry responded "you wish" –flash-_

Harry looked up at Bellatrix with wide eyes.

"I've heard that before. In my second year of Hogwarts. I was dueling with Draco Malfoy. He said those exact words to me before we started." Harry whispered urgently. A confused expression fell over Harry's face.

"Wait a minute. Draco was wearing Slytherin robes so why was I dueling him? Wasn't I in Slytherin? How do I know Draco? Is he my friend?" he asked.

His free hand flew to his head as yet another memory shot through his brain.

_-flash- Harry stood on the stairs with Draco standing slightly above him. –flash- Malfoy extended his hand. Harry refused it. –flash- Draco and his friends pretended to be Dementors as they ridiculed Harry for passing out on the train. –flash- Draco crying over a sink in a bathroom –flash-_

"It doesn't look like it. I am so confused." Harry admitted. "So am I am or am I not a Slytherin? If I am why aren't I friends with this Draco character?"

Bellatrix rolled her eyes.

"This is not the time or place for stupid questions." She hissed. Harry nodded and fell silent even though questions still swam around in his head.

A short spark of green light shot through the night sky. It was the signal for the teams to move on. Bellatrix turned to Harry.

"Remember stay close and don't do anything stupid." She snapped. Harry nodded again and followed the witch. The rest of their group fell into step behind them.

Bellatrix aimed her wand at the front door of the pub. Harry braced himself.

"Bombarda."

The door was blasted into the pub and the slightly drunken crowd erupted in screams. Immediately people tried to head for the back door but Death Eaters began to swarm in through that way as well. The people quickly found themselves trapped in the main area of the bar. Harry could just make out a short man in his thirties trying to make his way through the crowd towards the counter. Harry tugged on Bellatrix's sleeve and pointed him out.

"Stupefy!" she shouted. The man collapsed into a motionless pile and all hell broke loose. Curses and spells flew everywhere as drunk and sober people alike attempted to defend themselves. Harry got in a few shots but mostly stayed close to Bellatrix who was striking down anyone and everyone in her way. But suddenly a duel between a Death Eater and an older man knocked Harry to the ground. The teen jumped up but Bellatrix was nowhere to be seen in all the fray.

"Bella!" Harry called.

"Stupefy!"

"Protego!"

Harry's shield went up just in time to stop the stunner. He spun around wildly trying to figure out where the shot had come from but there was no one paying him any attention. A shrill laugh caught Harry's attention and he immediately began pushing his way through the crowd.

"Bellatrix!" he called. "Bellahhhh!"

Harry fell to the ground as a cutting curse sliced across his back. The angle at which it had hit made it obvious that the curse hadn't been intended for him but it had still hit a target. Harry twisted his arm back and felt warm sticky blood clinging to his cloak. The teen continued to push his way through the crowd painfully.

Suddenly he spotted Bellatrix fighting a younger looking man in the center of the bar. All the other battles seemed to form a circle around this ferocious fight.

"You should have known better then to double cross our Lord Braxton!" Bellatrix hissed.

"I should have known better then to join at all. There's no way you can win! You are all going to die fighting needlessly. Turn yourselves in a face your time!" Braxton snapped back.

"You fool! The Dark Lord will never fall! Darkness will prevail in this war though you will not be alive to see it!" Bellatrix cried. "Avada Kedavra!"

Braxton barely dodged the deadly curse and continued attacking his former partner.

Harry suddenly a witch lying on the floor with a gaping cut on her leg. She had been carefully dragging herself across the pub floor all the while dodging the trampling feet of Death Eaters and citizens. Harry could tell by her pale face and the crimson trail following her that she'd already lost a lot of blood. Suddenly she stopped dragging herself and raised her wand. Harry followed where it was pointed with his eyes. The injured witch was aiming at Bellatrix's exposed back. Not knowing what else to do Harry dove forward.

"Expelliarmus!" Harry felt his wand get ripped out of his hand and disappear into the crowd. He looked around and saw that he'd been disarmed by he'd failed to notice while trying to protect Bellatrix. The man raised his wand.

_"Stupefy!" he cried. _

_"Protego! Sectumsempra!" Harry called quickly. Power shot through his veins and erupted through his hands. The man who'd disarmed him fell to the ground clutching his chest where there was now a steadily growing red mark on the front of his robes. _

_Harry spun back to the witch on the ground who hadn't been able to shoot since people kept getting in her way. _

_"Expelliarmus! Impedimenta!" Harry shouted. The witches wand shot into Harry's hand and she was thrown backwards ten feet where she collided with a wall and slid to the ground. A series of flashes blinded Harry from somewhere underneath the tables that were still standing due to the magic holding them against the wall. Harry's hands flew under his mask and he rubbed his eyes furiously._

_Bellatrix's triumphant laugh rang through the pub. It was the signal for all the Death Eaters to leave. Without a moment's hesitation Harry ran towards her voice as the colorful dots subsided from his vision. _

_"Accio wand!" he cried. Harry felt his wand slid into his hand and he pocketed it. Outside in the cool night air Harry took a deep breath and raised his hand to the sky. This was the part he'd been waiting to do and now that he'd actually felt that he'd played a part in the attack he was even more excited. _

_"Morsmordre!" _

_Harry felt the power surge through him again and felt a smile form on his face before it was replaced by a pained grimace. Yet another memory shot into his brain. _

_-Flash-__Harry stood in some sort of forested area. –flash- smoke and fire could be seen not too far away –flash- a voice said the incantation for the dark mark –flash- the dark mark appeared in the sky._

_Harry shook his head. That by far was the most unclear memory he'd had. Suddenly all the questions from his memory of dueling with some Slytherin boy Harry somehow knew to be named Draco Malfoy came rushing back. Harry tapped on Bellatrix's shoulder. _

_"What is it Potter?" she snapped as the group walked back towards the hill where a portkey waited to take them back to the Dark Lord's lair. _

_"About that memory from earlier, I was wonder….." Harry began but the witch cut him off. _

_"Forget about the bloody memories already. Tonight is a time to celebrate. You made it through you're very first assignment. I wasn't too thrilled about having you come out tonight but I was told about how you covered my back while I was taking care of Braxton. I've got to say not to many others would have done that." Bellatrix said. Harry shrugged. _

_"Blasting you into walls is my job." He said cheekily. With her free hand Bellatrix wacked the teen on the back of his head before activating the portkey. The Death Eaters each put one finger on the old tire and waited as they were teleported away. _

22


	8. Article Ally

Chapter 8

Mr. Weasley grabbed the paper off the table top and shook it out. The children were all still asleep so it was just him and his wife sitting at the kitchen table. Molly sat to his left sipping at her tea and staring at the family clock with sad eyes. Arthur had tried unsuccessfully to hide the clock from his wife so that she might be able to take her mind off of Harry for at least a moment.  
Arthur flipped the page of the _Daily Prophet _and froze. A picture showed a Death Eater disarming and fighting a witch and a wizard without a wand of his own.

_He who must not be named _

_Gains powerful ally_

_Last night was the devastating debut of a new and powerful follower of you know who. The Bottoms Up Pub located just outside London was the sight of a surprise Death Eater attack around nine o'clock last night. Prophet reporter Eve Nightings was at the scene when the events unfolded and managed to snap the pictures shown above of a Death Eater striking down a man and blasting a woman. The most disturbing aspect of this photo is the fact that this Death Eater-now being called you know who's secret weapon- is _wandless_._

"_I thought he was done for when he lost his wand but he came at us with wandless magic. I've never been hit by so much power in my life. I thought I was dead." Explained the man in the picture, Fredrick Dickens. Dickens is now in Saint Mungos recovering from massive injuries after being struck with Sectumesmpra. Many more injuries were reported but only one was found dead. A man by the name Richard Braxton was apparently the target for this attack. You know who's secret weapon was accompanied by notorious Death Eater, Bellatrix Lestrange. It was Lestrange who killed Braxton after he revealed that he regretted joining the Death Eater ranks._

_Citizens of the wizarding world are now asked to especially cautious when wondering the streets. You know who's got a new player on his team and this one's a ringer. _

Arthur set the paper down and rubbed his balding head in stress.

"What is it dear?" Molly asked.

She took the newspaper from her husband when he handed it to her. When she finished the article she looked at him with wide eyes.

"Do you suppose Dumbledore knows about this? He ought to know if you-know-who's got a Death Eater with the ability to do wandless magic. This is not good news Arthur not good at all." Molly said.

Her husband nodded in agreement.

"I know dear. I will stop by Hogwarts on my way to work and have a talk with Albus." He said.

Arthur finished off the rest of his tea and tucked the paper under his arm deciding to finish it at the office. Molly walked with him to the fireplace and kissed him once on each cheek before he flooed away.

The Burrow's fireplace was one of the few connected straight to Albus Dumbledore's office. When Arthur arrived he saw the headmaster sitting behind his desk with his own copy of the _Daily Prophet_ open in front of him.

"So you've seen it." Arthur said as he sat down.

Dumbledore nodded.

"What are we going to do about it?" Arthur asked.

Dumbledore was silent for a long moment. He sat peering at his former student over the tips of his long fingers.

"I don't feel I need to tell you that whoever this person is must be stopped. It is far too dangerous for Voldemort to have such a powerful ally. We will not, however, go out looking for this person. We will continue on with all courses of action as planned. Voldemort will either use him more often or keep him off the field now that the entire wizarding world knows he exists. Either way we must be prepared to do what must be done." Dumbledore explained.

Arthur nodded and was silent for a moment.

"Has there been any news on Harry by chance?" he asked tentatively. Dumbledore sighed and shook his head.

"My last connection within Voldemort's circle was Richard Braxton."

"He didn't know anything about Harry anyway did he?" The red headed man asked.

"Richard never actually laid eyes on Harry while he was at the lair. But he was able to hear that Harry was still alive for one reason or another. This information is only a few days old."

Arthur immediately sat up a little straighter in his chair.

"You mean…" he began.

Dumbledore nodded fractionally.

"Yes there is a possibility Harry is still alive."

Arthur practically leapt out of his chair with excitement but sat back down when Dumbledore instructed him to do so.

"I must ask you not to share this information with anyone. Not even Molly. I fear it will give them hope that could be proven false at any time."

"Hope is what she needs, what the kids need; no matter how long it lasts." Arthur said.

Albus nodded once.

"I understand. Do what you feel you must but know that Harry's future is not guaranteed. We have no way to know what sort of condition he could be in. There's no way to know how long Tom plans to keep him alive or why he is doing so in the first place."

Arthur nodded.

"Alright. I won't tell my family but Albus you have to promise me that we're going to do something, anything. Sitting around here waiting for you know who to give us something to go on is obviously not working. My kids have made it very clear that they have every intention of going out to rescue Harry if we don't. You and I both know that these are not empty threats."

Dumbledore agreed and Arthur left for the ministry through the floo. The headmaster stared at the flickering flames of the fire. He knew he had to act. He knew Harry's friends would do something if the Order didn't. The only thing Dumbledore didn't know was just what he was supposed to do. Fawks flew down and landed on the old man's shoulder. Dumbledore reached back and stroked his feathers gently. The phoenix nudged him on the side of his face making the headmaster smile.

"Thank you Fawks."

25


	9. proving worth

The Death Eaters returned to Voldemort's lair and Bellatrix went directly to the Dark Lord to report. Harry left the others and went to his room alone. He had enough questions in his brain to make his head swim.

Why had he refused Draco's hand in friendship? Why had the pair been dueling in front of so many people? Why was Draco wearing Slytherin robes while Harry was in Gryffindor? Harry sighed heavily and put his head in his hands. He decided that he seriously needed some air. Harry went over to his door but when he opened it he jumped back in surprise. He quickly preformed the Death Eater bow.

"My Lord, you scared me." He said breathlessly.

"You should never be taken by surprise, Harry; remember that." Voldemort said smoothly.

Harry stepped to the side and let the Dark Lord enter his room.

"Bellatrix tells me you regained yet another memory." Voldemort hissed.  
Harry nodded.

"Yes sir. I think it took place a few years ago. In the first one a boy named Draco Malfoy offered me his hand in friendship but I denied it. The next he was making fun of me for being afraid of dementors. The last was of us dueling when he asked if I was scared to duel him." The teen explained. "Do you know who Draco Malfoy is?" he asked.

Voldemort nodded.

"Indeed I do. His father is one of my followers. Draco will become one himself in time."

"Why haven't I seen him?" Harry asked.

"I did not want to overwhelm you with too many memories in one day."

"Why did I refuse to be his friend?"

"It was merely a rouse. You were in sent to Hogwarts as my spy. You were to keep a close eye on Albus Dumbledore."

"The man who hates you so much?"

"The very same. Dumbledore does not get close to Slytherins so we arranged it so that you were sorted into Gryffindor. You played your role well Harry."

Harry beamed.

"I'm glad to hear it but I'm not sure I understand why Draco and I couldn't still be friends if he's going to be a Death Eater too?"

"It is not seemly for a Gryffindor to be friends with a Slytherin so you two pretended to be vicious enemies when in reality you two were very close." Voldemort explained. Harry nodded.

"I suppose that makes since." He sat on the edge of his bed and sighed heavily.

"What troubles you?" Voldemort questioned. Harry looked up at him ashamedly.

"I wish I could remember everything. I feel so useless not knowing about my past or anything that I've done for you these past years."

"You are certainly not useless Harry. In time you will become my most valuable asset."

Harry nodded but still looked uncertain. Voldemort stood directly in front of the teen and put his hand under his chin, forcing the teen to look at him. He saw a memory attempt to push itself forward but used Occlumency to shove it back. The last thing Voldemort needed was for Harry to remember they battled so many times.

"Would you feel better if you could prove yourself to me?" he asked. Harry's eyes went wide and he nodded as much as he could with Voldemort holding his chin.

"I'll do anything." Harry said.

"Good. Rest tonight. Tomorrow you will begin."


	10. new partner

The next morning Harry woke to the sound of persistent tapping on his door. Harry tried to ignore it but the tapping grew steadily louder until finally the door blew open so hard it collided with the wall behind it and cracked the wood. The teen shot up in bed with his wand in hand. He relaxed slightly when the blurry form of Bellatrix came into view. Harry slipped on his glasses.

"Get showered and meet me in the training room." Bellatrix instructed him before leaving.

Harry waved his hand and a clean set of jet black robes soared into his hand. The teen dragged himself into the bathroom and turned on the water.

Half an hour later Harry was in the training room with Bellatrix. The witch had Harry's wand in her pocket. The goal today was to make sure Harry had total control over his abilities. Harry fell to his knees as his weak shield cracked under a powerful leg locker. Bellatrix lifted the curse and scowled at her student.

"That was pathetic." She snapped.

Harry glared at her as he stood.

"You're going too fast. I can't keep up." He muttered.

Bellatrix glared at him and quickly closed the distance between them. Harry fought the urge to take a step away from the witch as her eyes bore into his own.

"Do you think the Order is going to slow down if you can't keep up? Do you think an auror is going ease off of you just because you're a child? They won't! You have to defend fast and attack faster. You have to expect every attack and be ready with two more of your own. A second's hesitation will get you or your partner killed." Bellatrix pushed the teen away from her and walked back to her position at the far side of the room. "Let's go again."

Harry nodded and prepared himself for the onslaught of curses he knew the witch would fire.

"Bombarda, reducto, sectumsempra!" Bellatrix fired in rapid succession. Harry dove under the first two and threw up a shield that barely held under the third. The teen decided to wait to fire anything in return.

"Patrificus Totalous, Stupefy, Crucio!" the witch shot. Harry easily blocked the first two and rolled under the third. He quickly leapt up into his dueling position just in time for another wave.

"Impedimenta, incendio."

"Protego Maxima!" Harry felt a huge bubble surround him moments before the curses crashed into it. He dropped the shield and finally went on the offensive.

"Expelliarmum, agumenti." Harry shot. As expected Bellatrix blocked the curses with practiced ease but soon Harry began putting more power behind his attack.

"Stupefy, reducto, DIFFINDO!" the last curse caught the rope holding an ancient looking chandelier full of candles. It crashed down, missing Bellatrix by mere inches. The witch jumped to the right and directly into Harry's next disarming spell. Harry caught the wand.

Bellatrix stood and glared at the teen for a moment before nodding in acceptance.

"Good. You've got to learn to keep that focus all the time. You have a lot of power Potter you need to learn how to use it."

Harry nodded and tossed the wand back. At the same time the sound of clapping came from behind Harry. As he turned his eyes fell on a man with long blonde hair, a face much like his son's but many years older, and lifeless grey eyes. Harry was about to ask who the man was when he fell to his knees gasping in pain.

_-flash-Lucius Malfoy stood in front of Harry at Flourish and Blotts.-flash- Lucius came at Harry with his wand raised after Harry had freed Dobby.-flash-Lucius stood below Harry at the Quidditch World Cup with Draco at his side-flash- Lucius asking Harry for the prophecy at in the Department of Mysteries-flash-_

Harry sucked in air as the pain subsided as the memories slowed. He looked up at the man who was looking back at him with a confused expression.

"Certain people and things strike Harry's memory. They make themselves known in a rather painful way." Bellatrix explained as she came forward.

Lucius nodded and took a step back to revel his son who'd been standing behind him.

"Draco is ready for his training." Lucius said to Bellatrix before turning back to Harry. "That was quite a show you put on just now, Potter. I wasn't aware you were capable of wandless magic."

Harry nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Something didn't sit right with the teen about Lucius all though he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"You can go now Lucius." Bellatrix snapped.

The elder Malfoy glared at her but nodded and turned to leave. Harry faced Draco who was also staring at him.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked.

Draco continued to stare openly. Harry turned to Bellatrix for help. The witch snapped her fingers and Draco jumped.

"Oh I'm sorry it's just Potter this is the last place…." Draco began but he froze mid-sentence when his aunt shot him a warning glare. He quickly remembered that he wasn't supposed to give any hints to Harry's true past. He also remembered that he was supposed to be friends with the Gryffindor.

"….erm last place I'd imagine seeing you …er Harry. I thought you'd um…finished training already." He tried. Harry shrugged deciding not to comment on the other boy's stutter. For all Harry knew it the speech impediment could just be part of who the boy was.

"I lost my memories up to almost seven years ago. Bellatrix has been training me for a few weeks."

Draco nodded but couldn't shake how odd it was to be standing next to Harry Potter inside the lair of the Dark Lord. The blonde noted the cold feeling that washed through him as he considered what that could mean for him personally as well as the rest of the wizarding world.

"Well if you lot are done wasting my time we can get back to practicing before you two get sent out." Bellatrix said.

Harry nodded eagerly and walked back to his starting position. Draco followed suit though he had to pull out his wand. Much to the disappointment of his father the blonde had never been able to do wandless magic but he was quite the dueler with a wand.

Bellatrix explained that at first it would be her against the two boys and then boys would duel each other at the end Bellatrix would team up with one boy while the other tried to hold his own. She also instructed that Harry was not allowed to speak. He had to use his wandless magic without shouting out curses. Draco was allowed to warm up first before he was given any special instruction.

The witch tightened her grip on her wand and readied herself for battle. Harry took a calming breath and cleared his mind. Draco's eyes narrowed and a small smile spread on his lips. All three of them were in their element. They were fighters and they were ready to show what they could do.

Draco raised his wand to fire but Harry beat him to the strike. A bright red beam of light shot towards Bellatrix but evaporated before it even reached her. The witch laughed and shot a long strand of curses at the two boys. Harry took the first stunner to the chest, unable to throw up a shield without saying the spell. Draco quickly revived him.

"Expelliarmus!" he cried. Bellatrix dodged the spell and sent her own.

"Flippendo! Sectumsempra!" the witch cried. Draco threw up another shield to cover both boys and turned to Harry quickly.

"Come on Potter do something!" the blonde snapped. Harry looked up at him helplessly. The raven haired closed his eyes in concentration but before he could summon up the power Draco's shield shattered and the boys were thrown backwards into the wall. They slid to the ground but jumped back up quickly.

"Incendio!" Bellatrix shouted. A wide ring of fire surrounded the two boys and Bellatrix laughed gleefully. Draco tried to down the flames with water from his wand but the inferno was too much for him alone. Harry ran over to the Slytherin.

"Put up a barrier so I can get through the flames. I'll disarm her as soon as I get through." He said quietly and quickly. Draco raised an eyebrow at him.

"Are you sure?"

"I can't put up a strong enough shield for you to get through without roasting like a marshmellow and if you go through alone she'll disarm you before you have a chance to fire." Harry reasoned. Draco nodded and raised his wand.

"Go!" he cried. "Aguamenta." A stream of water shot out of his wand and doused a small section of the circular flame. Harry leapt through the gap and focused hard on Bellatrix's wand shooting into his hand. Suddenly he felt the smooth wood in his hand. Harry held it up triumphantly as the fire died down and Draco stepped up beside him. Bellatrix nodded and snatched her wand back from the teen. Harry held his hand up to Draco. The blonde looked at him for a moment before slapping Harry's hand with his own awkwardly.

"Now the two of you will go against each other. Harry you can say spells now but still no wand. Draco, you still have your wand. Alright get into position." Bellatrix instructed. Draco walked over to the far side of the room where his aunt had been standing moment before. Harry took his original position at the opposite end of the room from Draco. The boys bowed and readied themselves. Bellatrix examined both of their stances before walking over to the door leading into the observation room where she would be out of the way of the duel.

"Duelers ready." She said the boys nodded. "Begin!" Bellatrix stepped into the safe room and shut the door behind her.

Draco had the first shot of a simple stunner that Harry easily blocked. The raven haired boy responded with a disarming spell. For the first few shots the boys tested each other but the battle quickly intensified.

"Impedimenta!" Harry shouted. Draco spun to dodge the curse.

"Tarantallegra!" he cried. Harry leaped over the spell, shooting off a stunner while he was in the air. Draco blocked it.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Harry tried. Again the spell was blocked and Draco dove to the ground. The Slytherin scowled as he leapt back up to his feet yet again. He was breathing heavily but his opponent hardly seemed fazed at all. Spells flew in all directions. The boys dodged, blocked, and reflected them as well as they could but both of them were beginning to wear down. Harry was having a harder time conjuring strong enough shields while Draco was having a harder time recovering after a dodge. Bellatrix's voice rang out from the observation room every so often.

"Move faster!"

"You wouldn't last a minute in a battle with the Order!"

"Neither of you will ever make it as Death Eaters!"

"You're an embarrassment to our Lord."

This last jab hit Harry harder than Bellatrix had probably expected it too. Draco, being used to the verbal abuse, wasn't fazed but the sudden added aggression Harry poured into his spells was unnerving.

"Whoa calm down Harry." Draco called when a cutting spell came uncomfortably close to his head. Harry merely growled and fired faster.

"I'm not an embarrassment, I can do this, I deserve to be here." Harry chanted barely loud enough for Draco to hear. The Slytherin looked at the other boy uncertainly. This was so obviously not the same Harry, Draco had come to know and hate over the past seven years. This Harry was more powerful, more determined, more dangerous. This Harry was on Voldemort's side. Harry realized his opponent's concentration had slipped and took advantage of the moment.

"Expelliarmus." He cried. Draco felt his wand get ripped out of his grip and expected the duel to end but suddenly he was flat on his back with ropes biding his arms to his sides and his keeping his legs together. Draco looked up at Harry who was coming nearer.

"What the hell Potter?" Malfoy said. Harry stood beside him looking down at the defenseless Slytherin. Dark satisfaction shone in Harry's eyes but before he could speak Bellatrix came up beside him. She undid Draco's bonds and watched her nephew stand.

"Good work Harry." Bellatrix handed the teen his wand back and he pocketed it. Draco stared at him with a look of contempt.

"Why'd you tie me up?" He snapped. Harry shrugged.

"Didn't want to chance you tricking me somehow." Bellatrix nodded approvingly.

"You two have a few hours before your test so go shower and rest up a little, get something to eat and be outside at exactly six o'clock."

"I thought we had one more battle left." Harry asked.

"I think we've done enough for today." Bellatrix said. Without another word she left the teens alone in the room. Harry turned to Draco who still looked a little angry about getting tied up.

"Voldemort told me we were friends but you don't act like it." Harry said bluntly. Draco shrugged.

"I find it hard to be friends with people who tie me up." He reasoned.

"Why weren't you paying attention in the first place?" Harry asked.

"I was thinking." Draco answered. He led the way out of the room and down the corridors toward the kitchens.

"What about?" Harry questioned.

"Is it really any of your business?"

"I guess not but I still want to know. If you get distracted like that tonight you'll be in trouble."

Draco didn't respond. He knew the other boy was right but couldn't bring himself to care.

"Are you going to follow me around or something?" he snapped. Harry stopped walking and looked at him uncertainly the cool confidence that he always felt after doing well in training melted slightly.

"Oh I guess not." He said. Draco continued to walk one way while Harry went another. He shook his head in confusion.

If this was what Voldemort considered a friendship, Harry hated to consider how enemies treated each other.


	11. Novington

Later that night Draco and Harry met Bellatrix out on the grounds of the lair. They both wore jet black robes and had masks hanging around their necks in case someone should spot them. The witch stood waiting for them with a glowing shoe in her hand.

"Tonight is your first chance to prove yourselves to our Lord that you belong in his ranks."

Harry stood up a little straighter as pride filled him at the prospect of being able to prove something. He knew he could do whatever was asked of him, he only hoped his partner wouldn't slow him down. Harry snuck a glance towards Draco. The blonde had a far off look on his face and his eyes had a glazed look in them. It was obvious that he was distracted just as he had been while dueling Harry earlier that day. Bellatrix smacked her nephew on the top of his head with her wand. Draco jumped and rubbed the top of his head.

"What the bloody hell was that for?" he snapped.

"You weren't paying attention and that could get you killed. This is the easiest of the three tasks you must fulfill within the next week but it is just as dangerous as any of them. One wrong move could get you captured or killed." Bellatrix warned them. Harry nodded his understanding. He remembered the intensity of the battle at the pub in London. It had been obvious that it was very mild when compared to some of the other things the elder Death Eaters had experienced.

"You must work together in this or else neither of you pass. The ability to watch another's back as well as your own is an important key in staying alive." Bellatrix waved her wand and glowing red numbers appeared in the air beside her.

"This timer will begin as soon as you've portkeyed away. You will have two hours to retrieve the item in question. Should you fail it will be marked against you and you both will be one step behind the other junior Death Eaters who have already completed their first tasks."

"We will be the best." Harry said confidently. Bellatrix nodded.

"I'll believe it when I see it. Are you both ready?" she asked. Harry nodded immediately but Draco hesitated slightly before agreeing. Bellatrix handed the boys the portkey and watched as they disappeared. The clock beside her began to countdown from two hours.

Harry and Draco landed with a thud on a patch of grass. They jumped up and examined the area. Trees surrounded them on all sides. The sun was still fairly high in the sky in the early evening but its rays were barely strong enough to cut through the dense forest. Harry pulled out his wand and led the way down the first trail he spotted. Draco followed after him wordlessly as he pulled out his own wand. Silence surrounded the boys but neither could shake the feeling that they weren't alone in the forest.

They continued to follow the trail through the thick trees. It was impossible to see too far in any direction except straight ahead.

_Snap_

Draco froze but Harry continued walking, having not heard the sound. The Slytherin swung his wand around but nothing moved.

"Harry." He whispered. Harry either couldn't hear the soft call or was ignoring it.

"Harry." Draco called a little louder.

_FFFT_

The soft but distinct sound of an arrow leaving a bow rang in Draco's ears. He dropped to one knee just as a shinning silver dart hit the tree above his head. Draco stood up and saw the arrow was dripping with some sort of green ooze. He watched as the ooze dripped onto the tree bark. The bark sizzled for a moment before disappearing completely. In its place was a hole the size of a galleon. Draco's eyes went wide with realization. This forest was booby trapped.

_FFFT_

"Harry!" Draco shouted. The raven haired boy jumped in surprise and spun around. A silver dart zipped passed his head, missing him by mere centimeters. Harry glared at Draco.

"Shhh!" he hissed. Draco rushed over to him.

"The forest is rigged. There are arrows shooting at us…."

_FFFT_

Draco grabbed the front of Harry's robes and dragged the teen down to the ground with him as another arrow shot above them. Harry looked around wildly attempting to see where the attack was coming from but it was impossible. The trees cast shadows over everything and were so close together themselves that there was no way to see anything.

_FFFT_

Draco pushed Harry away from him, forcing the raven haired boy to roll to his right while Draco rolled to his left. An arrow shot directly between the two of them.

_FFFT_

The boys moved to their knees but this time Harry saw that the attack was coming from somewhere to his left.

_FFFT_

"They're coming faster now!" Harry called. Draco rolled his eyes.

"Yes I can see that." He said.

"I think they're…."

_FFFT_

"…coming from this way." Harry said gesturing to his left. Draco raised an eyebrow.

"So let's go this way." Draco said pointing to his right. Harry shook his head.

"But if they're coming from this way, there must be something we're not supposed to get to." He reasoned. Draco shook his head.

"It's probably a diversion." He argued. Harry grunted.

"Possibly but that doesn't make much since. Most people would go the opposite way to get away from the darts wouldn't they? So why lead them towards something?"

Draco sat thoughtfully for a moment.

_FFFT_

"I dunno." He said skeptically. Harry rolled his eyes and began to crawl forward on his hands and knees towards a small gap between the trees. Draco watched him for a moment before reluctantly following, expressions of disgust flashing over his features every time his hand landed on the damp earth.

_FFFT FFT FFFT FFT FFFT _

By now the darts were coming once every few seconds. Harry was swatting them away with his wand but it was obvious it was becoming difficult for him to move forward and defend himself at the same time. Draco scooted forward so that they were shoulder to shoulder. Harry looked at him questioningly.

"We can take turns putting up shields. It'll be easier then you trying to get them all." Draco said. Harry nodded.

Every time Draco put up a shield Harry would move forward slightly and then put up a new shield. They moved in this pattern until Harry collided with something solid.

_FFFT FFT FFFT FFT FFFT _

Harry looked up. In front of him he saw more trees and dirt but when he put his hand forward he felt a smooth surface. Arrows were shooting out of holes all over the surface. Harry muttered a spell to fill the holes facing them with a gooey substance so that nothing could attack them while they sat there. He turned to Draco who looked as confused as he felt.

The Slytherin shrugged.

"What now?" he asked. Harry continued to run his hands over the surface before sitting back on the ground.

"Well I suppose we could try blasting it down." He said. Draco shrugged and nodded. The boys raised their wands.

"Bombarda!" they shouted in unison. The wall shook violently.

_FFFFFFFFTT FFFFFTTTT._

The arrows began shooting out so fast they blended together in a solid wall of grey. Draco threw up a shield just as the holes Harry had plugged came open. His shield was pelted with arrows at an alarming rate. Draco's whole body shook with the effort of keeping it up. Harry quickly added his own power to the shield, helping to strengthen it. The boys struggled to hold the shield up as the arrows attacked. Harry ripped his left hand away from his wand and held it out in front of him with his palm facing the wall. He closed his eyes in concentration, leaving Draco to struggle with the shield alone.

"STUPEFY!" Harry cried. All at once the arrows froze. At first they simply hovered in the air before they fell to the ground like rain. Harry dropped to the ground in exhaustion. Draco expanded the shield so that they were protected from all angles as the downpour of arrows fell around them. A full minute later Draco was able to finally drop the shield. His whole body felt a little weakened from holding up such a large shield for so long. Draco put his hand on Harry's shoulder and helped him to sit up. Harry shook his head and picked up his wand which he'd dropped when he fell. Draco noticed the teen looked a little bit paler but he wasn't surprised. He had felt the power radiate from Harry when he'd stunned the arrows.

"Let's not try that again." Harry said with a small smile. Draco laughed and nodded. The pair turned back to the strange wall that was disguised as part of the forest they'd arrived in.

"There has to be a way in." Harry said. Draco nodded in agreement. After a moment Harry slid closer to the wall and carefully put his eye up to one of the holes. He pulled his eye back and stuck the tip of his wand into the hole. Draco lifted his own wand and readied himself to throw up a shield in the event that they should need it.

"Reducto." Harry said. There was an audible explosion on the other side of the wall but this time no storm of arrows burst out. Harry put his eye back on the hole and saw what appeared to be part of a clearing in another part of the forest. Harry turned back to Draco.

"There's something through here." He said.

"Okay and how do we get to it?" Draco asked. Harry shrugged.

"I'm not sure."

"Well we need to figure something out. We've wasted enough time as it is and we haven't gotten anywhere near finding what we need." Draco pointed out. Harry nodded.

"What do you think?" he asked. Draco looked up at the wall.

"How high do you suppose it is?" he asked. Harry shrugged.

"Probably as high as the trees to make sure it really blends in with the scenery." Draco nodded and motioned for Harry to come closer to him. Curious, Harry did so and followed the Slytherin's finger upwards. Straight above them it looked as if Harry's idea was true: the wall seemed to almost mirror the forest it was supposed to blend into-until a certain point. The higher the wall got, the less sharp the images were until it appeared to be just a blue and green blur.

"I'm guessing the wall ends just above the tallest tree." Draco said thoughtfully. Harry nodded.

"Okay but what good does that do us? It's not like we can fly up there." He said. Draco looked at him with a mischievous gleam in his eye.

"You're right, we can't fly, but we can levitate." He said. Harry's eyes popped.

"No way. That's stupid. It couldn't work. What would we do once we got to the top anyway? Whoever's on the ground couldn't see what's happening on the other side."

"Then we'll use a spell as a rope and propel ourselves down." Draco said. Harry stared at him like he was insane.

"You've lost your bloody mind!" he exclaimed.

"Well do you have any better ideas?" Draco snapped. Harry paused and sighed heavily.

"No."

"Then let's at least try this."

"Fine but how do we decide who goes up?"

Draco rolled his eyes and looked away from his partner.

"I'll have to do it. There's no way I can get a strong enough spell to get you that high."

Harry shook his head.

"I can't do it. I'll drop you." He said.

"You sure as hell better not." Draco snapped. He stood and brushed the dirt off his cloak.

"Ready?" he said. Harry stood and nodded nervously. He aimed his wand at the Slytherin.

"Wingardrium Leviosa." He said. Draco immediately felt weightlessness wash over him. He looked down and saw the ground hovering a few feet below him. Draco nodded once to Harry. The teen slowly raised his wand, lifting the Slytherin higher and higher into the air.

"I'll send down sparks when I've reached the top." Draco said. Harry nodded and continued to focus on levitating his partner.

Draco eased tree branches out of his way as he rose steadily higher. He forced himself not to look down. The most surprising thing was Draco couldn't feel even the slightest weakening in the spell even though he knew he was probably at least a hundred feet away from Harry by now.

The top of the wall came into Draco's view about fifteen feet above him. He raised his wand so that he was ready when he reached the top.

Down on the ground Harry was working up a sweat. He'd used a lot of his power stunning hundreds if not thousands of arrows and now he was lifting Draco who knows how high into the air. All this magical exertion was beginning to take its toll on Harry. He could feel it in the sweat sticking to his forehead. He could see it in the shakiness of his hands. He could hear it in his quick breath. Harry had both hands on his wand and his eyes squeezed shut as he tried to force every ounce of his power into moving Draco higher. Harry's legs felt as if they might collapse under him. He pried his eyes open and tried to see how much higher he needed to get Draco before he could end the spell. But his vision was swimming, making it impossible to see anything at all. Harry shook his head and rubbed his eyes with his left hand but nothing helped. He fell to his knees and his wand fell from his grip.

The top of the wall was only a few feet away. Draco reached up with his left hand and kept a tight grip on his wand with his right. His fingers were only inches away from their goal when everything went wrong. Draco's weight struck him like a brick after such a long time of weightlessness. Fear gripped his heart as he felt himself begin to fall.


	12. Casa Novair

Arms flailing Draco threw his body against the wall hoping to find something to hold onto but the wall was smooth. The top of the wall seemed to rise as Draco plummeted towards the ground.

Draco raised his wand.

"Carpe Retractum!" he shouted. The breath was ripped from his lungs as his entire body crashed to a halt when the spell connected with the top of the wall. For a moment Draco hung suspended in mid-air until the elastic rope snapped him up and over the wall. Draco cried out as he flew over the wall and dangled by his wand. His hand slipped a few inches on the wood but Draco's death grip prevented him from slipping all the way. Draco grunted when he crashed unceremoniously into the other side of the wall.

Breathing heavily and thanking any god that might be listening Draco began to work out his plan. He's original idea had been to sit on top of the wall until he could figure out a way down but that obviously hadn't worked out quite as planned. Suddenly Draco wondered what had happened. Why had Harry cut the spell off so suddenly? Had something happened to him? Draco found himself unwillingly worried about the Gryffindor but forced himself to concentrate on getting himself to safety before worrying about the welfare of his partner.

Draco spun around so that his back was against the wall. A tall redwood tree stood about ten feet away from him. Slowly a plan began to form in Draco's head. It was a very stupid plan but a plan all the same.

On the other side of the wall Harry fought to push himself into a sitting position. He rested his back against the wall and let his eyes slide closed while he worked to get feeling back in his arms and legs. Harry pried his eyes open and looked around. He didn't see Draco's body sprawled on the ground anywhere nearby but that did little to comfort him. What if he'd gotten caught in a tree? What if he'd landed in some other clearing Harry couldn't see? Questions coursed through Harry's mind but he was too exhausted to do anything to answer them. Harry's head fell forward so that his chin rested on his chest and exhaustion washed over him. His eyes fell closed and soon the teen was asleep.

Draco began counting down from ten for the third time. His arms were beginning to ache from holding onto his wand above his head for so long but Draco was struggling to find the courage to do his next move. He bent his legs so his feet were flat against the wall and gritted his teeth. He had one shot at this. One shot that couldn't miss. If he missed he would die.

Draco shook his head and focused on the tree opposite him. With a grunt of effort Draco pushed with all his strength against the wall. He swung towards the tree.

"Finete." He said. The spell binding him to the wall ended and Draco felt the horrible wrench in his stomach that only came from free falling.

"Carpe Retractum." He called.

The spell connected with the tree branch closest to Draco. He swung his body so that he wouldn't collide square with the tree's trunk. His momentum slowed and Draco was able to swing his feet out and land on a tree branch about ten feet below where his wand had originally connected. The Slytherin breathed a sigh of relief before readying himself to drop again. Another tree stood about fifteen feet away. Draco aimed his wand towards a branch about half way down.

"Carpe retractum." The spell shot out and connected with a branch slightly lower then what Draco had been aiming for. The teen considered reshooting but in the interest of time decided against it. Draco stepped off his current branch and swung towards the next tree. Again he twisted so as not to collide with the large trunk of the tree. Unfortunately he turned too far and ended up hitting a branch with his right side. The collision caught him off guard and Draco accidently allowed the spell to end. Suddenly he was plummeting again. His feet caught a branch but it snapped under a combination of his weight and the speed at which he was falling. Draco felt his ankle twist slightly but ignored it. The ground was now rushing at him at an alarming rate. Draco aimed his wand blindly.

"Carpe Retractum." He said for the last time. The spell caught and Draco swung forward, parallel with the ground. With a sharp cry Draco released the spell and throwing his feet out in front of him, skidded across the grass on his back. For a moment he lay there gasping for breath. After a long while he dragged himself up and walked back towards the wall. He walked beside it until he came to the spot Harry had blasted with his wand. Draco knelt down and put his eye to the large hole. He saw Harry's legs sticking out and guessed that the Gryffindor was leaning back against the wall. Draco removed his eye and put his mouth close to the whole.

"Potter!" he cried. Harry jerked awake and looked around for the source of the voice. With some instruction from his partner he found the hole Draco was talking to him through.

"Draco! You're not dead!" Harry cried happily.

"No thanks to you." Draco snapped. Harry's face fell but Draco didn't care.

"The wall looks weaker on this side. Stand back, so I can try to blast through it." The Slytherin said. Harry's face disappeared from the hole as he took several steps backwards.

"Bombarda!" Draco called with as much power as he could muster. The wall shook and fell leaving a fair sized hole. He knelt down and looked through the hole at Harry who was looking back at him.

"Can you get through?" Draco called. Harry nodded and pocketed his wand. He laid himself flat on his stomach and eased himself forward putting his hands through first, followed by his shoulders his head. Harry got through up to his waist before he froze. He looked up at Draco with wide eyes.

"Uh-oh." He said. Draco huffed in exasperation.

"Please don't tell me your stuck." He said. Harry shrugged.

"I won't but its pretty obvious I am."

Draco tucked his wand into his robes and grabbed Harry's hands.

"I'll pull you do something." He said. Harry nodded. Draco dug his heels into the ground as he began to pull. Harry wiggled his lower half. Inch by inch he felt himself shift forward. Then with a heavy grunt from Draco he popped out. Knocked off balance, Draco fell onto his back. The teens lay there for a long moment not really wanting to continue.

"Bellatrix said this was the easiest of our three tests." Harry said. Draco nodded even though Harry couldn't see him from his angle.

"We are going to die." Draco said matter-of-factly.

"Only if we're lucky." Harry joked. Draco smirked and stood. Harry did the same. The pair turned and for the first time noticed a huge white building made entirely out of stone. They looked at it and then each other.

"Do you suppose we'll just have to walk in the front door and the cup will be sitting there waiting for us?" Harry asked. Draco laughed and shook his head.

"I doubt it very seriously."

Harry sighed heavily.

"Oh well. A kid can dream." He said. Draco nodded and together they made their way towards the white building.


	13. Meetings

The room fell completely silent as Dumbledore entered. Dreven Nights had called an emergency meeting of the Order at his own safe house in the country. Dumbledore took the seat at the head of the table that had been left open for him. He gestured for Dreven to speak.

Dreven was a man in his early forties with dirty blonde hair and pale brown eyes. The numerous freckles covering his face made him look shades darker then the truly was. He stood in front of his chair and addressed the entire Order.

"As you all know half of the island of Novington has been put under high security measures. Since the discovery of what was hidden on this island there have been only two attempts to get into the only building the north half of Novington, Casa Novair. The first was only one year after security was installed. The trespasser was merely an unlucky apparator who had managed to somehow slide through the cracks. His memory was erased and no charges were pressed. The second pair of culprits were not so innocent. Notorious followers of You know who the Carrows siblings were immediately brought into the ministry after being captured attempting to get into Casa Novair. They managed to escape but until now there have been no further attempts on entering this side of the island."

Murmurs exploded throughout the entire room but Dumbledore silenced it all with a wave of his hand.

"Please continue Dreven."

"Moments before I called this meeting I was alerted to yet another attempted break in on the island again by You-Know-Who's followers. The only difference this time is that the pair managed to get through the first level of defense."

"That's impossible!" Moody said sharply.

"No one could possibly have gotten through that wall." Kingsley put in.

"The only weak spots are on the side facing Casa Novair. There's no way they went through the wall but no one is capable of the kind of magic needed to get around it any other way." A man Dumbledore had never met before said firmly.

Remus Lupin stood, holding a copy of the _Daily Prophet_ from the previous day.

"I can think of someone who might be capable of doing just that." The werewolf said. More conversation broke out but again Dumbledore silenced it.

"It is entirely possible that Voldemort has used his new member to break into Casa Novair. Most of us are aware of what is hidden inside the building." Dumbledore paused for a moment. "Our side has taken far too many hits these past weeks. It is time for us to do something to put hope back into the hearts of all those who have begun to question whether they can trust us to lead them out of these dark times. Anyone willing to travel to Casa Novair must leave immediately. Do not interfere unless the trespassers appear to be getting too close to their destination. If you must strike, strike hard and fast. It goes without saying how much we need this victory. It is up to you to see that we get it."

Dumbledore let his words sink in before handing the meeting over to McGonagall.

"Who will travel to Casa Novair?" she asked. Over 15 out of the 25 people present stood but the witch quickly spotted four members she would not allow to take on this assignment.

"Ms. Granger, and all three of the youngest Mr. Weasley's I must ask you to please return to your seats."

Her students stared at her with wide eyed disbelief.

"But Professor…" Hermione began.

"That is my final word. Speak with me after the meeting if you wish but my decision will stand." McGonagall said sharply. She waited until the teenagers sat down before picking six people to travel to Casa Novair.

Kinglsey was the only senior member of the order chosen. The others were fairly new and McGonagall knew they would have their memories erased as soon as they returned.

The group left and slowly the rest of the Order filed out of the room to the appartation point inside Dreven's own bedroom. Hermione, Fred, George, and Ron stayed behind to speak with their professor.

"Why did you do that?" Fred snapped angrily.

"None of you are in any condition to take on an assignment this important." McGonagall said bluntly.

"But…" Hermione began but McGonagall held up her hand.

"You are all far too emotional to think clearly. I understand how you feel…"

Ron's face turned bright red.

"Don't say that." He practically hissed. "You have no bloody idea how we feel. You don't have the slightest clue what it's like to have your best friend ripped away from you and not even know if he's dead or alive or somewhere in between. There's no way you can understand the torture we're going through sitting around doing nothing while he's going through who knows what. Don't try to act like you're anywhere near our level of pain professor because you have no idea."

Ron turned and disappeared into Dreven's room where he appareted away. Hermione, Fred, and George silently followed suit. McGonagall watched them all with tear filled eyes. Suddenly she felt a warm hand on her shoulder and turned to see Dumbledore looking down at her.

"Oh Albus." She cried. The headmaster pulled the woman into a strong hug. He whispered comforting words to her that were as much for the witch as for the man himself. They were all hurting in one way or another. Everyone felt the weight of Harry's absence on their hearts. It was obvious that many people were on edge and didn't know what to do with themselves. Dumbledore knew this was how his colleagues, friends and students were feeling because he too suffered but he forced himself to remain as strong as he possibly could knowing that falling apart wouldn't do no one any good.

Dumbledore stood with McGonagall in his arms for a while before the witch finally regained self control. She apologized for losing it like she had and Dumbledore waved it off. He let McGonagall apparate away first before he too left the safe house.


	14. Change revelations

Draco and Harry paused outside the huge oak doors leading into the castle like building. Harry smirked and pointed to the wooden sign hanging beside the doors.

_Do not enter. Trespassers will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Entrance into Casa Novair is strictly prohibited. _

"Didn't Bellatrix say the building would be empty?" Draco asked. Harry nodded.

"It's just a sign. No one even knows we're here. Let's just get in, grab the cup and get out. We've wasted enough time already." He said. Draco agreed. The pair raised their wands and pushed on one of the oak doors. It creaked loudly sending shivers down the backs of the both the boys. A long dark corridor greeted them. Harry and Draco looked at each other.

"After you." Draco said. Harry scoffed.

"Are you scared?" he asked. Draco smirked.

"No I'm just not thick enough to go first."

Harry glared at him for a moment before stepping into the building.

"Lumos." He muttered. Draco did the same behind him as he stepped in after Harry.

The boys held up their wands to let the light fill the corridor.

Cobwebs covered almost every inch of the castle walls. Dust coated the floors and windows, preventing any light from entering. The air was thick with dirt and the lingering scent of wood decaying as well as the bodies of small creatures that had managed to squeeze into the castle. Simultaneously Harry and Draco pulled on their masks for no other reason than to keep some of the smell from entering their noses or mouths.

Harry began to walk forward. Every step echoed in the huge corridor. The boys came to their first corner when Harry stopped in his tracks. Draco collided with his back.

"What the…" he began but Harry cut him off. The raven haired teen pointed the light of his wand towards the floor. Draco did the same and immediately saw why his partner had stopped. Less than three steps away from where the boys stood the floor simply disappeared. A gaping hole stretched from one side of the hall to the other and continued about fifteen feet away from where the boys stood. Draco eased forward slightly. The floorboards creaked under his weight but still he edged forward, aiming his wand down into the hole. The Slytherin let out a low whistle and turned back to Harry.

"That's one hell of a drop. I can't even see the b…"

CRACK.

"AHHHH!" Draco felt the floor below him give way and cried out as he fell. He lashed out with his hands and barely caught the edge of the floor. Harry dropped to his knees and grabbed Draco by his wrists.

"I've got you." He said.

CRRREEEAK BOOM

Harry froze and looked over his shoulder. The doors had slammed themselves shut. The age old dust began to swirl rapidly on the floor, slowly picking up speed and rising into the air. Harry held tight onto Draco's wrists but stared with wide eyes as the dust rose higher and higher into the air until it seemed to be touching the ceiling over 90 feet above his head.

Draco felt the air shift and a cool breeze ran down his spine.

"What's going on?" he asked. Harry turned back to him.

"Let go." Harry said firmly. He released Draco's wrists and the Slytherin felt himself slipping.

"What the hell you're going to get me killed!" he cried. Harry shook his head and turned back to the swirling vortex of dust. It was still picking up speed and seemed to becoming more solid as it collected more dust. Harry could feel it deep inside that something was about to happen and he wasn't going to like it. He turned back to Draco.

"Let go!" He cried again.

Draco shook his head and began trying to pull himself up.

"No!"

Harry reached forward and grabbed the back of his partner's cloak. Then he dove into the hole. Draco cried out as the wood cut into the palms of his hands. He felt warm blood seeping out from his right hand. Harry released Draco's hood. He twisted down and aimed his wand down towards the ground though he couldn't see it.

"Spongefy!" he cried.

"DAMN YOU!" Draco shouted. Harry's ears popped as they fell.

"Get ready to hit! When we go back up do what I do." He called. Draco glared at him but nodded his understanding. Suddenly his body jerked violently as they landed on what felt like an enormous trampoline. For a split second the boys merely lay in crumpled heaps before they bounced back up the same way they had just fallen. Harry stared up at the hole and could just see the giant wall of dust move over the top of it. If the pair had been up there the wall would have knocked them into this hole anyway or would have just sucked them up into it, slowly suffocating both boys with dust. Harry raised his wand as the hole drew nearer. Draco did the same.

"Carpe Retractum!" Harry cried, aiming his wand at angle so that the spell would hit a wall outside of the hole. He heard Draco copy him a split second later. The spells caught and the boys felt themselves being jerked up and out of the hole. They landed with their knees bent to help ease the shock of the collision. Slowly they stood and looked behind them. They had effectively crossed the gaping hole.

Draco turned away from the hole and raised his lit wand above his head. The corridor stretched on for a few more feet before coming to a stone wall with two wooden doors. One door was painted black, the other white.

"Which one should we go through; the eerie black door or the possibly deceptive bright white one?" Harry asked. Draco shrugged.

"I'm betting white just because people would think that it was a trap and go into the black one."

"But what if that's the point? What if whoever painted these doors wanted people to think they'd be safer going through the black because the white looked too inviting when actually they should have gone through the white because it really was safer?" Harry said. Draco stared at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you saying we should go through the black door?"

"No."

"So the white one."

"I didn't say that either."

Draco growled.

"Then what are you saying?"

"For all we know both doors could be something horrible. Or they could both be safe."

Draco rolled his eyes and walked up to the white door. He put his hand on the handle and hesitated before changing his mind and pulling on the black door. He turned back to Harry.

"It's locked." He said.

"I guess that makes our decision simple." Harry said with a shrug. Draco nodded and pulled the white door open with ease. Darkness greeted them along with a damp smell and the sound of rushing water.

"I don't think I like this." Draco said.

"Well the black one is locked and I think we're running really short on time." Harry reasoned. Draco walked over to the black door and aimed his wand at it.

"Alohomora." He said. Harry tried to pull the door open but it wouldn't budge.

"It didn't work." He pointed out needlessly. Harry raised his own wand and aimed it at the middle of the door.

"Bombarda!" he shouted. The door cracked down the middle.

"Why don't we just see where the white one leads us? It's already open." Draco said."

Harry shrugged and was about to enter the white door when a high pitched whistle tore through the silence. The boys looked around wildly before their eyes fell on the door. Smoke was streaming out of the crack and the knob seemed to be melting. The door slowly began to puff out in front of the boys' eyes.

"Oh shit." Draco said breathlessly. He dove through the open doorway, taking Harry down with him. The boys covered their heads just as the black doorway exploded violently. Above them the stone ceiling began to rumble. For a moment Harry and Draco stared at it blankly but then large chunks of stone began to fall. One crashed inches away from Harry's left leg. The raven haired boy leapt up and started running with Draco close on his heels.

The boys ran as fast as they could but the ceiling seemed to be falling faster. In front of them was the source of the sound of rushing water they had heard from the doorway. A narrow strip of river shot in front of them. Draco knew what they had to do.

"We have to jump!" he cried.

"I can't swim!" Harry called back. Draco skidded to a halt at the river's edge.

"What!" he cried. Harry shrugged.

"I never learned how to swim." He admitted.

"But you swam in the lake during the Triwizard Tournament." Draco said. Harry looked at him in confusion moments before he fell to his knees grasping his head in pain. Draco stared at the teen in shock before remembering that Bellatrix had said that memories came back to Harry and they were painful. The teen must have been remembering his journey into the lake during his fourth year. Draco looked up and saw the ceiling above them wasn't going to hold much longer. He jumped forward and grabbed Harry and leapt into the water.

Icy water covered them both immediately. Draco felt the breath get ripped out of his chest as the ice cold water forced his body to contract violently. The Slytherin paddled furiously to get his head above water.

"Harry!" he called. Waves crashed and pushed him back under the water.

"Harry!" Draco called again once he was able to resurface. Somehow the Slytherin managed to pull his wand above the water so that its light cast a soft glow over the icy water. Draco just spotted a puff of black hair bobbing about ten feet away.

"Potter!" he cried.

Harry struggled to spin around and raise his own wand.

"Draco! Over here!" he called. The river's current dragged the boy's away from each other but they fought against it desperately. Harry could almost reach Draco's arm when a huge bolder fell from the ceiling and crashed directly behind him. A huge wave crashed over the Gryffindor and he felt himself get jerked underwater.

Draco watched in horror as his partner disappeared from sight. He called the boy's name again but no answer came. Draco fought against the current and sucked in a deep breath before diving under the freezing water.

Beneath the surface was not much calmer then above but Draco did manage to spot Harry a few feet away from him. The Slytherin swam forward. Harry was struggling to get back above the water but the boulder had caught the back of his cloak and was holding the teen underwater. Precious bubbles of air were swirling around Harry's head and Draco knew he didn't have much longer. He swam back up to the surface and preformed the bubblehead charm on himself. Draco dove back under water but the current had carried him away from his partner. As rocks fell into the water they stirred up the muddy bottom of the river and created bubbles. Draco swam around blindly before forcing himself to calm down and surface again. He carefully laid his wand in the palm of his hand.

"Point me Harry Potter." He said. The wand spun and Draco struggled not to lose it in the crashing waves. Finally it froze pointing directly ahead of him. The blonde could just make out the top of the boulder sticking out of the top of the water. He dove down once more and struggled against the current towards Harry. Draco felt a sense of dread wash over him as he realized Harry was unconscious.

"Damn." He said inside his bubble. Draco swam forward and aimed his wand at the edge of Harry's cloak that was caught under the boulder.

"Diffindo." He said. The cloth tore and the current began to drag Harry's body away. Draco grabbed his partner by his arm and struggled to swim towards the surface. As soon as his head broke above the water Draco ended his bubble head charm and began paddling towards the edge of the river. The current carried him one way while he struggled to swim another forcing him to travel in a diagonal line. Draco no longer had feeling in any of his limbs and kept having to check to see if he was still holding onto Harry. The blonde's teeth chattered violently and his chest felt tight. Exhaustion pulled at Draco's body but he wouldn't allow it to consume him.

The river's edge was less than ten feet away from him. He bit down on his lip and furrowed his brow with effort as he struggled towards it. Finally with one last powerful kick Draco's hand caught the rocky edge. With his wand between his teeth Draco held onto the edge tightly and dragged Harry from behind him. The Slytherin pushed the unconscious teen onto dry land before pulling himself out of the freezing water. Draco cast a drying charm over himself as well as Harry but his hands continued to shake with cold as his body struggled to return to normal temperature. The Slytherin rolled Harry onto his side and hit him on the back a few times.

"Come on Potter." He mumbled. A minute later Harry coughed up water and rolled onto his back. He blinked up at Draco wearily.

"You saved me." He said breathlessly. Draco shrugged.

"I guess we're even." He said referring to Harry saving him from falling into the pit. Harry coughed again and sat himself up. The boys looked around.

The river had taken them into a huge, intensely bright room. Both boys had to cover their eyes against the glare of the bright light on the blinding white walls.

"Bloody hell." Draco hissed.

"Where are we?" Harry asked.

"I don't know. I can't open my eyes long enough to find out." Draco answered. Harry lowered his hand for a moment only to feel his eyes actually burn.

"Ahh." He cried. Draco raised his wand.

"Nocturnium." He called. A dark puff of what appeared to be smoke poured out of the Slytherin's wand. It spread through the entire room pushing against the light. Slowly the light dimmed against the darkness and the boys were able to open their eyes. They blinked several times, trying to get the spots to disappear from their vision. Harry looked around. There appeared to be only two ways out of the room; either by the river or a door at the far end of the room.

"At least there's only one door this time." Harry said with a shrug.

Draco followed Harry forward. Both boys were feeling the effects of their journey but were determined to complete their task. As soon as they reached the door Harry tested it to insure it would open and nodded to Draco when the knob turned. When Harry shoved the door open Draco allowed the darkness curse to fall as they both dove through the doorway.

This room was twice as long as a quidditch pitch and about ten feet wide. As Harry and Draco stepped farther in the door slammed shut behind them. Draco turned to pull it open again but it had disappeared.

"What the hell?" he snapped.

The boy's ran their hands over the surface where they had just entered but there was no trace of a door. Torches lined the two walls with about fifteen feet between each flame.

"Look at that." Harry said.

He pointed above his head to the ceiling and then dropped his hand slowly. Draco followed the gesture and gasped. Where the boys stood the ceiling as about ten feet above their heads but the farther down the hall they went the lower it got until it was no more than two feet above the ground. Draco cursed under his breath.

"No bloody cup is worth all this." He grumbled.

Harry looked at him sharply.

"We're getting it for our Lord. That should make this all more than worthwhile." He said. Draco stared at the Gryffindor for a long minute. Why did everything and everyone else stir such strong memories in the teen but Harry couldn't seem to remember the fact that Voldemort had tried to kill him numerous times.

Harry waved his hand in front of Draco's face.

"Why are you staring at me?" he asked.

Draco jumped slightly and stepped back, shaking his head. Harry stared at him uncertainly.

"Have you always dazed off this much? I mean first during training, then when we were getting our assignment, and again just now. Is something wrong?"

Draco shook his head again.

"You've changed, that's all." He muttered.

Harry shrugged.

"Well I did lose my memory. I suppose that can change a person."

Draco nodded.

"Alright so what are we going to do about this? It looks way to easy just to climb through a two foot hole."

Harry noticed how the blonde had switched the topic but decided this was not the place to bring it up.

"Well standing here staring at it doesn't sound like much of an option either." He said. "Let's just go for it."

Draco hesitated before agreeing. The boys took a simultaneous step forward and immediately wished they hadn't. Huge holes opened on two of the walls. Freezing water from the river began rushing through it at amazing speeds. In less than five seconds it had reached the boy's ankles.

"This makes it much more difficult." Harry said.

Draco nodded.

"Remember the bubble headed charm this time in case we do have to go underwater. It'll help you breathe."

Harry agreed and the pair took off running together. With every step they took the water seemed gush faster making it more and more difficult to run. Before the boys knew it the water was at their waists and they'd only made it about a hundred yards.

"Maybe we should use the charm now." Harry suggested.

"Good idea." Draco agreed.

The boys raised their wands and aimed them at their own heads. They said the charm. Nothing happened. Harry shook his wand and tried again.

"It's not working." He said.

"We can't do magic in here!" Draco cried.

Realization hit both boys full force as the water reached their stomachs. If they didn't make it to the hole they wouldn't have long before they would drown.

"Did you remember how to swim?" Draco asked. Harry nodded.

"I think so but I could breathe underwater back then. I don't have any gillyweed this time." He said.

Without another moment's hesitation Draco threw himself forward and began paddling furiously towards the two foot opening at the far end of the room. He barely heard Harry splashing along behind him.

The water was so cold it actually hurt to move. Draco could feel the effects of hypothermia setting in but fought against it, deciding that they'd come too far to be taken out by water.

If either boy had stood they would have found the water resting somewhere around their chest areas. The ceiling was sloping even as the boys swam and suddenly they reached the point where they could no longer stay above water and swim straight. The ceiling sloped into the water leaving them with a dead end. Draco turned to make sure Harry was still behind him. The raven haired boy nodded. Draco turned back and took a deep breath before diving into the water.

The boys were careful to follow the slope of the ceiling to avoid getting turned around in the pitch blackness of the water.

Being the stronger swimmer, Draco made sure to stay behind Harry in case the Gryffindor should run into some sort of trouble. The boys made their slow way towards the opening at the end of the tunnel. Harry pulled himself through and Draco came after him.

This room was huge, dry, and fairly well lit. Right in the center of the room was a tea cup sitting on a pedestal.

The boys pulled themselves out of the water and cast drying spells over their clothes. The only sound was that of the boys' heavy breathing. Harry straightened up after he was completely dry. He looked around and froze as movement in the upper rafters caught his eye. He stared intensely at the spot for a long moment before his eyes went wide.

"Get down!" he cried. Draco didn't hesitate before throwing himself onto his stomach. A jet of red light shot mere inches above the blonde's head. The boys rolled to avoid another attack. They leapt to their feet and lined up back to back, making sure their masks were still covering their faces.

Draco held his wand at the ready in front of him. Harry did the same not wanting to use too much energy too quickly with wandless magic. Spells and curses cascaded down on the pair with minimal hesitation. It was all either of the teens could do to block them all. They struggled to stay back to back. Harry grabbed the back of Draco's robes at the same moment Draco grabbed a handful of Harry's.

"Show yourselves!" Harry cried.

Something told him that this wasn't another trap set up to protect the cup. There were real people attacking them from all directions. The only things Harry couldn't figure out was exactly where the attacks were coming from or how many people were firing. The only answer to Harry's demand was another storm of curses. Harry felt Draco struggling behind him. Both boys were completely exhausted but they were so close to their goal. Harry side stepped, pulling Draco along with him. Together they edged their way closer to the cup while holding up shields.

"Take another step and I'll kill you." A deep booming voice called. Harry's head throbbed violently as he remembered who the voice belonged to. Kingsley Shacklebolt, an auror for the ministry and a member of the Order of the Phoenix. He's completely against Voldemort and everything the Dark Lord stood for. Harry nodded to himself. If Shacklebolt was an enemy of Voldemort's he was an enemy of Harry's.

"Avada Kedavra!" Harry cried, aiming in the general direction he thought the voice was coming from.

The curse missed its target and hit a wall, blowing a huge hole into it. Realizing their opponent was going to play rough, the aurors began firing more violent curses.

"Sectumsempra!"

"Impedimenta!"

Harry and Draco managed to block the curses but could no longer edge their way towards the cup and defend themselves at the same time.

"Harry." Draco hissed.

"What?" Harry snapped, simultaneously throwing up a shield.

"Remember what we did with the arrows? Protego!" Draco asked.

"Yeah. Expelliarmus!" Harry shouted.

He was surprised to see a wand soaring down at him. Harry released Draco's robes to catch the wand. He snapped the wood over his knee and latched back onto his partner.

"That might work here." Draco said.

Suddenly five men leapt out of the rafters. Harry could see a sixth man stay behind but he was wandless. The aurors charged at Harry and Draco, shooting curses with amazing speed.

"How?" Harry asked quickly. "Protego, stupefy, crucio!"

One man fell to his knees in pain but when Draco jerked Harry's arm from behind the curse ended.

"You put up a full shield, I'll fire spells." He said hissed quickly. He paused to throw a few stunners and disarming spells, all of which, missed their targets. "You lead with the shield and I'll follow. You'll grab the cup and we'll get the hell out of here."

Harry agreed.

"Protego Maxima!" he cried.

The boys were quickly covered by a huge protective bubble. Draco weakened the shield in one spot so that he could fire his own curses.

"Stupefy, expelliarmus, patrificus totalous."

The stunner and the paralyzing spell each caught an auror but the disarming spell completely missed Kingsley. Harry picked up his pace as the aurors started trying to close in on the boys. Finally the cup was only a mere five feet away.

"I've almost got it." Harry informed his partner.

The cup was their only way out of the building. Along with its other properties it was the only portkey strong enough to get through the barriers surrounding the castle and take a wizard to any destination they could imagine.

Draco continued shooting spells that only came close enough to their targets to force them to jump back or slow down.

"Get it!" he shouted over his shoulder.

Harry gritted his teeth, dropped the spell, tightened his grip on Draco's cloak, and snatched the cup with his wand hand. He had just enough time to smile triumphantly at Kingsley before the portkey activated and took the boys away.


	15. the cup

Kingsley watched the Death Eaters disappear. He and the other aurors dove forward in an attempt to snatch at least one of them but their hands closed on empty air. The head auror led his team towards the safe exit out of the room. This exit took them all the way through the castle and out a secret door in the back of the building. Kingsley made sure to tell each of his men that he appreciated their work today even though their targets got away.

"No one can say we didn't try." He said.

The men agreed before apparating away. Kingsley preformed a side along apparition with his colleague who lost his wand.

"We'll be sure to get you a new one tomorrow."

The group arrived at the designated area. Dumbledore stood waiting for them. Kingsley stepped forward holding his head high.

"I'm sorry sir. They got away with the cup." He said.

Dumbledore sighed heavily.

"Thank you for trying."

Kingsley nodded.

"Sir off the record, I've never seen a fighting style like the one these two used. It was incredible. They made it impossible for us to hit either of them."

"Were you able to identify either of them?" Dumbledore asked.

Kingsley shook his head.

"I could tell from their voices that they were young. That in itself threw me off there for a minute. I wouldn't have ever thought full grown wizards could get through everything the castle is equipped with but by the looks of it we've been beat by a couple of teenagers. Before we left the castle we went through and checked what all traps had been tripped." Kingsley took a deep breath and ran a hand over his bald head. "Sir, I don't think I could have made it through most of that to be perfectly honest. The river for sure would have gotten me."

"This is not the first time we've encountered young Death Eaters. Tom sends them on assignments to test their abilities."

"Well these two must be at the top of their class." Kingsley paused. "Or at least one of them must be. The other couldn't seem to get his aim right. He kept shooting just to one side of all of us. If I didn't know any better I'd say he was actually trying _not_ to hit us." The man laughed half heartedly.

Dumbledore nodded and told the aurors to go home to get some rest. The men apparated away one by one; leaving Dumbledore alone in the deserted area. He looked up at the night sky and thought about what Kingsley had just said.

_What Death Eater child would actually try not to cause any harm?_

Harry and Draco fell to the ground outside Voldemort's castle. They lay in the grass for a long while letting the sounds of their own breathing echo in their ears. Suddenly a towering figure appeared over both of them. Harry held up the cup.

Bellatrix stared at the object for a full minute. She looked from both of her students and back to the cup.

"You got it." She said breathlessly.

Harry and Draco nodded.

"You actually got it." Bellatrix repeated.

Draco forced himself up onto his elbows.

"Why are you so surprised?"

"It was supposed to be impossible." Bellatrix said.

She gently took the cup out of Harry's grasp and held it almost lovingly. "No one has ever gotten past the wall."

Harry and Draco stared at her and then turned to each other.

"You said that this was going to be our easiest test!" Draco snapped.

"I lied." Bellatrix said without taking her eyes off the cup.

"What did the others have to do?" Harry demanded.

"They were sent to retrieve other things but nothing as important as this!" Bellatrix screeched. "Our Lord will want to see this right away." She said excitedly.

Bellatrix took off running back into the castle, holding the cup in front of her and laughing manically. Harry and Draco followed their trainer up to Voldemort's personal wing. The trio skidded to a stop just outside a set of huge double oak doors. Bellatrix knocked on the door and then fell to her knee with the cup held above her head. Draco and Harry knelt on either side of her and bowed their heads.

The door creaked open and the Dark Lord stepped out. He froze as soon as his eyes fell on the cup before him.

"How?" he said.

"Potter and the younger Malfoy retrieved it only moments ago my lord. It was to be their first task." Bellatrix exclaimed.

"You sent them to Casa Novair? Alone." Voldemort hissed.

Bellatrix hesitated but knew there was no use in lying.

"Yes my Lord. I thought they were ready."

Voldemort took the cup gently with one hand and pulled out his wand with the other.

"Crucio."

Harry and Draco flinched as Bellatrix writhed on the floor between them. Voldemort stared down at his servant with cold eyes.

"You will do well not to make any more decisions without my knowledge Bella. I thought you'd learned this long ago but obviously I was mistaken."

He ended the curse and Bellatrix weakly pushed herself up on her hands and knees.

"You two come with me. Bellatrix get out of my sight." Voldemort said.

All three Death Eaters bowed and stood. Bellatrix limped down the hallway while Harry and Draco followed Voldemort into his quarters.

"Close the door." The dark lord instructed.

Harry did as he was told.

"Sit." Voldemort demanded.

Harry and Draco sat in two plush chairs Voldemort conjured in front of his own high backed chair. Once they were all seated Voldemort held the cup up in front of him.

"Do either of you know what is so special about this cup?"

Harry shook his head.

"No sir."

Voldemort nodded.

"What about you Draco?"

"That is called the Healers Cup. It was hidden on the island of Novington centuries ago."

"And why was it hidden?" Voldemort asked.

"The cup has the ability to change any regular liquid into a powerful potion of any kind instantly. The potion will still keep the taste, color, and overall appearance of the original liquid. For instance if the owner desired to brew the polyjuice potion but does not have two months to wait he can pour water into the cup say the name of the desired potion while holding the cup. The water will become one serving of the polyjuice potion within seconds but still appear to be just a simple glass of water. It makes the potions much more appealing."

"Why is it called the Healer's cup?" Harry asked.

Draco looked to Voldemort who nodded.

"It was created by a group of healers who planned to use the cup at St. Mungo's. If a patient needed a healing potion that took longer to brew then the patient had to live, the healers could use the cup." Draco explained.

"So then why was it hidden?" Harry asked.

Voldemort's eyes flashed.

"Because of me Harry. I realized many other ways to use the cup. If a spell was said into the cup instead of the name of a potion the spell would become liquefied. My plan was to steal the cup and make a liquefied form of the killing curse. I would then send complimentary drinks to powerful people in the magical world. It was the perfect plan."

"But how would you get the cup back?" Harry asked.

"I would never have to send the cup to anyone. Once the potion is made inside the cup it remains that way no matter what container it is placed in." Voldemort explained.

"How would you make sure the drink got to the right person?" Harry questioned.

"There are many ways I could do this. I have many resources at my disposal."

Harry nodded. He looked over at Draco who was staring at the cup with glazed eyes and a slightly sickened expression.

Voldemort waved his hand and a silver tray with two shiny black pitchers sitting on top of it floated to his side. He picked up one of the pitchers and poured a small amount of it into the Healer's cup. Voldemort brought the cup close to his lips and whispered into it.

"Memory block."

Draco and Harry's eyes went wide as they watched the contents of the cup bubble violently for a minute before it leveled out. Voldemort held the cup out to Harry.

"This potion will keep memories from bothering you. You will remember everything you've learned these past few weeks but this will ensure no more unwanted memories find their way into your head."

"Why don't you want me to remember them?" Harry asked skeptically.

"The past seven years have been very difficult for you Harry." Voldemort said carefully. "I'm just trying to protect you from reliving painful experiences you'd be better off forgetting."

Harry nodded once and reached out for the cup but froze half way.

"AHH!" He cried out. Harry grasped both sides of his head as he cried out in agony. He fell out of his chair and to his knees.

_Flash-Quirell trying to strangle Harry –flash- a giant snake lunging forward and one tooth catching Harry's arm –flash- Hundreds of dementors floating around him and causing him to fall off his broom –flash- Cedric Diggory lying dead in front of Harry –flash- Sirius slowly disappearing through the veil –flash- Snape trying to kill Dumbledore_

Voldemort stepped forward and grabbed Harry's head and forced his mouth open. Draco watched in horror as the Dark Lord forced the drink down Harry's throat. The Gryffindor sputtered and tried to spit the liquid out of his mouth but Voldemort held his mouth and nose shut. Harry thrashed from the pain and lack of oxygen. Finally he swallowed it and immediately fell to the ground motionless.

Voldemort looked up at Draco who was staring at Harry with wide eyes.

"Take him to his room. He will have no recollection of the last few minutes when he wakes tomorrow."

With that the Dark Lord stood and left the room. Draco lifted his wand and levitated Harry off the ground. The Slytherin made his way out of the room and through the halls towards Harry's room.

Draco lowered the raven haired boy onto his bed and flicked his wand so that the blankets covered him. For a moment the blonde stood staring at the unconscious form in front of him. He sighed heavily and cleared his throat.

"Harry," he whispered. "you've got to remember who you really are, what you really fight for. I know that potion is going to make it even more difficult than before but you have to remember. No one else can get me out of here, Harry. I don't want to do this. You have to help me. You have to remember and I'm going to make sure you do."


	16. tried truth

Harry woke the next morning with a splitting headache. He pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes until he saw stars. A hard knock at the door made his head pound even worse.

"What?" he called.

The door opened and Bellatrix walked in.

"Time for training." She said.

Harry groaned.

"I don't think I can do it right now. My head is killing me." He said.

Bellatrix rolled her eyes.

"That's too bad. You and Draco have another task tonight."

Harry sat up and glared at his trainer.

"We just got back from the last one!" he exclaimed.

Bellatrix whipped out her wand.

"What have I told you about respecting your superiors?" she snapped.

Still exhausted from the previous day's events and frustrated by his pounding headache, Harry was in no mood to listen to the over bearing witch. He flicked his right hand and Bellatrix's wand went flying across the room. Her eyes went wide with surprise but soon shock was replaced by fury.

"You little…" she began.

Harry groaned in pain as his head gave another nasty throb.

"Get out." He hissed.

Bellatrix felt her hands roll into tight fists.

"Who the bloody hell do you think you are!" she cried.

She took a menacing step forward but Harry raised his right hand while keeping his left firmly pressed on the side of his head.

"Take another step and I will blast you through the wall." He said through clenched teeth.

"You wouldn't dare." Bellatrix challenged.

To make her point she stepped forward. Her foot didn't touch the floor before she was thrown backwards out of the room. Harry shut the door and fell back against his pillows, grabbing his head in agony. He cried out in pain as his head throbbed violently. The door opened again and this time Draco stepped in.

"What did you do to Bellatrix? I just saw her and she's beyond furious." He said. Draco froze when he saw Harry writhing on the bed, clutching his head.

"Harry?" Draco called.

The raven haired boy didn't seem to hear him. He continued to cry out in intervals as he rolled back and forth on his bed while clawing at his head. For a moment Draco was frozen to the spot but he quickly came to his senses and ran out of the room. The memory potion Harry took the night before must have still been hurting him even though he was awake.

Draco sprinted through the halls of the castle, plowing through men and women who glared at him as he passed. Finally the Slytherin skidded to a stop outside the door he'd been looking for. Draco banged on the door with both hands.

"Severus! Sev! Open up!" he called.

The door swung open violently to reveal an angry Snape.

"Harry's in a lot of pain. You have to help." Draco said.

Snape smirked.

"Why in Merlin's name would I do that?" he asked.

Draco thought fast.

"I don't think our Lord would be very happy if he knew you didn't even try to help his favorite Death Eater."

"I have specific orders to avoid Potter and I am more than happy to do so."

Draco growled in frustration.

"Harry won't remember you! He took a potion last night. It won't let him get anymore memories back. I think it's that potion that's hurting him. Now get something to help him!"

Snape was momentarily shocked by his godson's outburst but quickly recovered. "Alright."

The man disappeared into his room and came out again a minute later with a vial of a greenish liquid. Draco turned and led the way back to Harry's room. When the pair made it into the room Harry was still crying out in pain. Tears and sweat streaked his reddened face.

Snape strode over to the bed and sat on the edge.

"Hold him still." He instructed Draco.

The teen did as he was told.

"Calm down Harry. Help is here." Draco said.

Snape looked at the blonde with a raised eyebrow but decided not to comment. He uncorked the potion and forced Harry to open his mouth. The teen swallowed the potion and almost immediately stopped thrashing. Harry took a few calming breaths before opening his eyes. He saw Draco first.

"Thanks." He said heavily.

Draco waved it off.

"Don't thank me, thank Sev."

Harry turned and looked at Snape. The man tensed but Harry just held out his hand.

"Thanks. Have we met before?" he asked.

Snape looked at Draco who was staring at Harry with an unreadable expression.

"No, we haven't. I am Severus Snape." Snape took Harry's hand and shook quickly.

"I'm Harry Potter."

Snape stood as he nodded in acknowledgement. When no one spoke the situation quickly turned awkward and Snape made his exit. Draco stayed by Harry's side as the raven haired boy sat up and put on his glasses.

"I wonder where that headache came from." He said shaking his head. Draco took a deep breath.

"Harry, do you remember that cup we brought back last night?" he asked.

Harry nodded.

"Yeah I don't think I'm going be forgetting about that anytime soon." Harry said with a short laugh. Draco nodded.

"Well Voldemort…." He started but couldn't bring himself to continue. Harry waited.

"What is it?" he asked.

"He used it to…you see he…" Draco looked at the boy in front of him and sighed heavily.

"Never mind." He said.

Harry shrugged.

"Okay then well, I'm going to go take a shower and head for training. I'll meet you there okay?"

Draco nodded and stood to leave but as soon as he reached the door Harry called him back.

"Hey Draco." He said.

Draco turned from the door.

"Yeah?"

"Last night when we were fighting the aurors, you hardly ever hit any of them even though you were completely open to." Harry said.

Draco shifted uncomfortably.

"So?" he asked.

"So why?"

"Why what?" Draco asked, stalling.

"Why didn't you curse any of them? We could have gotten the cup a lot faster." Harry said.

"Well at least we got it, right?"

Harry glanced at his partner.

"Yeah I guess."

Draco nodded and left the room. Harry stared after him for a moment before shrugging and going into his bathroom.

To say Bellatrix was angry about Harry's actions earlier that day was a definite understatement. She attacked Harry twice as much as she attacked Draco during training. She demanded more out of Harry even when he was giving everything he had. The trio had been training for over two hours but Bellatrix didn't seem to want to end the session. Finally Harry collapsed to his hands and knees. He barely had the strength to lift his head to look at his trainer.

"I said I was sorry!" Harry called.

"Crucio!"

Harry fell to the ground, writhing in pain.  
"Save your apologies Potter." Bellatrix spat.

"Then what do you want!?" Draco shouted. "You're going to kill him!"

The curse continued for another minute before Bellatrix finally ended it. Harry lay on his side gasping for breath. He spat blood out of his mouth from biting clean through his tongue.

"Get up." Bellatrix demanded.

Harry painstakingly rolled onto his stomach. He pushed himself onto his knees and then to his feet, glaring at the witch in front of him the entire time.

"Again." She snapped.

Harry and Draco got into their dueling stances. Draco tightened his grip on his wand and prepared himself for his next move.

"Duel!" Bellatrix cried.

"Protego!" Harry shouted immediately. A shield went up in front of him just as Bellatrix shot off a cascade of curses. Harry held the block instead of attempting to fire any attacks of his own but it was obvious his shield wasn't going to hold long. At that point Draco stepped in front of the other teen.

"Expelliarmus! Bombarda! Impedimenta! Sectumsempra!" He shouted. Harry watched as Bellatrix blocked all the curses and sent more back of her own. Draco continued to stand in front of the Gryffindor.

Harry let his guard fall and shot a few spells from behind his partner. Draco threw up a shield as Bellatrix moved to the offensive. She shot off four curses that Draco was able to block.

"Crucio!"

The Slytherin's shield exploded and Draco fell to the ground in agony. Harry watched in horror.

"This wasn't your fight Draco." Bellatrix shouted. Draco writhed on the floor until the witch finally ended the curse.

"Stay in your place or the next one will be worse." Bellatrix said. "Duel!"

Before any spells could be fired the training room door opened and Snape entered.

"What are you doing here?" Bellatrix snapped.

"I was merely wondering why you still have these two in here when they have their second task tonight. Also, Nott and Zabini are waiting right outside for their training lesson." Snape said smoothly.

Bellatrix opened her mouth to respond but Snape cut her off.

"Draco, Potter, get out and get ready for your mission. I will be briefing you before you leave. Bellatrix I suggest you get started with the scheduled training session."

Harry and Draco didn't hesitate before leaving the room. Snape stepped to the side and glared at Bellatrix before following the teens out of the room. Out in the hall Theodore Nott and Blaise Zabini were staring at Harry with wide eyes and blank expressions.

"Erm, hi." Harry said uncertainly. Draco introduced Harry to the other two boys who continued to stare openly.

"Are they okay?" Harry asked.

Draco nodded.

"They're fine."

The Slytherin led Harry away from the other two.

Blaise turned to Theo.

"That was Harry Potter."

"That was Harry Potter in Death Eater robes." Theo said.

Blaise put his hand on his head.

"I think I've got a fever. That's the only way I could be having hallucinations like this."

"NOTT, ZABINI GET IN HERE!" Bellatrix screeched from inside the training room. The boys were jerked out of their stupor and quickly ran into the room.

Harry and Draco went into the empty room just outside the library. Snape came in behind them and shut the doors. He noticed Harry's violently shaking hands and the coat of sweat that covered both boys' faces. The potions master could only imagine what had gone on in that training room over the last few hours but he kept any questions he had to himself.

"Your first task was to prove your abilities to work together and do whatever needed to be done for our Lord. The second task you must complete will test your over all loyalties."

"Aren't we doing that just by going through all this?" Harry asked.

Snape's eyes narrowed at the raven haired boy but he ignored his question.

"There have been some stories appearing in the _Daily Prophet_ that don't please our Lord. Your task today is to make sure the stories stop."

Draco's eyes shot up to his godfather's face.

"What do you mean by that?"

"You are going to go to the _Daily Prophet_ office. You will give them an ultimatum. When they undoubtedly do something stupid and print that they've been threatened you will go back and destroy it."

"You want us to destroy a newspaper?" Harry asked. Snape nodded.

"It will be up to the editor whether he is foolish enough to ignore the threat."

"Well that doesn't seem like much of a task at all." Harry said. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest more to keep his hands from shaking then to show his attitude.

"You realize that I don't mean just the paper. The entire building and everyone inside it must be destroyed or else the fools will just start it up again and we can't have that." Snape said. Harry smiled.

"Of course not." He said. He looked over at Draco who looked nauseous.

"Hey are you okay?"

Draco shook his head.

"We're not really going to have to…kill people are we?" he asked.

Snape and Harry both looked at Draco uncertainly.

"If it comes to that, yes you will. Is that going to be a problem?" Snape asked.

"Come on Draco it'll be their fault for not taking the threat seriously." Harry reasoned.

Draco closed his eyes.

"I can't do it. I won't." He said.

Snape was in front of him in a flash. He slammed his hands on the table in front of Draco causing the teen to flinch and rip his eyes open.

"You will do what is asked of you. You will complete this task or you will suffer the consequences."

Draco glared at his godfather and stood.

"Fine." He said spitefully.

The Slytherin left the room and slammed the door behind him.

"What's with him?" Harry asked. Snape sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Nothing. He'll be fine."

Snape told Harry that he would bring him a potion that would relieve the shaking effects of the cruciatus. Harry thanked him but denied the offer saying that it would end on its own eventually.

"I think I'll go find Draco." He said.

Snape nodded and left the teen.

Harry had never been to Draco's room before and didn't honestly even know if the blonde had a room here at the castle or if he just came and went with his father every day. Harry decided to ask around but only received dirty glares and snide comments. He went to look around outside but was unsuccessful. Harry checked the kitchens, library, and everywhere else he could think of but the Slytherin seemed to have disappeared into thin air.

Frustrated by his lack of luck Harry decided to give up his search and go see how Nott and Zabini were doing in training. He walked back inside the castle and made his way into the observation room. Harry opened the observation room door and saw that he wasn't the only one with the idea of checking out the competition.

"Mind if I join you?" Harry asked.

Draco shrugged and Harry sat in the chair next to him. The pair watched Theo and Blaise struggle against Bellatrix's attacks. Every time the witch disarmed one of the boys they would blame the other for not having their backs. Harry scoffed.

"Good thing we're not like that." He said.

Draco didn't respond. He continued to stare out at his housemates as they prepared to start again. Harry sighed.

"I don't understand you." He said. Draco continued to ignore the raven haired boy and Harry continued to talk anyway.

"You don't want to attack aurors. You don't want to take out a newspaper who is talking about our Lord. I swear you seem more and more depressed every time I see you. If I didn't know any better I'd say you don't want to be here. It seems like you don't even want to be a Death Eater."

Draco took a deep breath but didn't say a word but that was all the response Harry needed.

"You don't want to be Death Eater do you?" Harry asked. Draco closed his eyes and shook his head. He turned to Harry and looked him square in the eyes.

"No, I don't and neither do you." He said.

Harry stared back at him until Draco turned back to the window. Blaise and Theodore were now attacking each other instead of Bellatrix.

"What do you mean I don't want to be? I've been one for the past seven years. If I hadn't lost my memories I bet I would be going out on raids with the higher ranks almost every night. I could probably be higher than Bellatrix and I would have defiantly defeated Dumbledore by now." Harry said.

Draco had been shaking his head the entire time Harry had been talking but now he froze.

"What?" he said quietly. Harry nodded confidently.

"If I hadn't lost my memories I bet I'd be able to go out and take on Dumbledore and win. You could help…"

"NO!" Draco shouted, slamming his fists on his legs. "NO! Don't say that! You don't want to be a Death Eater! If you hadn't lost your memories you wouldn't be here right now!" he cried.

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked.

"You're not a Death Eater Harry! You're the bloody boy who lived. You're the only one who can defeat Voldemort! You're the one who's supposed to end this! Voldemort messed with your head! This isn't you!" Draco shouted. The door to the observation room opened and Snape entered.

"What is going on in here? I can hear you shouting from the other end of the hall."

Draco paid no attention to his godfather. He grabbed Harry's shoulders to make sure the teen was looking at him.

"Harry, listen to me. We are not friends. You hate me and I'm not fond of you. You are a Gryffindor. You help people. Every single year since you arrived at Hogwarts you've battled Voldemort and won!"

Snape rushed forward and grabbed Draco by his robes. The Slytherin fought against his godfather desperately.

"NO! LET ME GO! Harry, you've got to remember. Think about Ron and Hermione and you're girlfriend, Ginny! They're your best friends Harry you can't forget them!"

Snape threw his arm around Draco's throat, cutting off the teen's air supply as he dragged him out of the room. Draco continued to fight against his godfather's hold but his grip was too tight. Draco couldn't find enough breath to scream anymore.

Harry watched Snape drag the blonde out of the room with a glazed expression. Draco clung to the doorway and kicked his godfather in the leg. Snape dropped the teen and Draco burst back into the room.

"The cup we got! Voldemort used it to make a memory potion so you can't remember anything else! He doesn't want you to remem…"

Draco fell silent when Snape struck him with stunner. The teen fell motionless to the ground. Snape sat beside Harry who was staring at the blonde in confusion.

"Potter?" he said. Harry looked up at him uncertainly.

"Why was he saying all those things?" he asked. Snape shook his head sadly.

"Draco is very unstable. He was involved in an accident not long ago and it rattled his mind. We hoped it would sort itself out but it's obvious he hasn't gotten any better. But do not worry about him. You will be paired with a new partner before your task tonight everything will go according to plan."

Snape stood and lifted Draco into his arms.

"Where are you taking him?" Harry asked.

"Where he belongs."

Snape left the room and Harry stared after him blankly. He turned back to the battle going on in the training room but he was no longer interested in it. Something was going on here. But what was it? Was Draco's brain really as disturbed as Snape said or was the Slytherin the only sane one? Harry shook his head and sighed heavily as he rubbed his eyes tiredly.

_Why does losing my memory have to be so damn confusing?_


	17. course of action

Ron and Hermione sat on Ron's bed with their backs against the wall. Ginny sat on the floor leaning against the closed door. Fred and George shared a bench they'd conjured.

"I'm still not sure just putting an article in the _Daily Prophet _could have done anything." Hermione admitted.

"Think about it 'Mione. Everyone reads that paper, including Death Eaters. If what we said was good enough they won't be too happy about it." George said.

"And we all know unhappy Death Eaters like to attack stuff." Fred reasoned.

"So like we discussed at least two of us will have to be at the _Prophet'_s building at all times so that in case they do attack we'll be there." George continued.

"Right and what happens when they show up? Won't the Order get called?" Ginny asked. Her twin brother's nodded.

"We certainly hope so or we'd be in a bit of trouble. You see when the Order gets the call whoever out of the five of us that wasn't at the building will go with Order." Fred explained.

"Now here's where it gets tricky." George said. "The pair that will be at the building will be on their own for a little while but not too long hopefully. Anyway, they will also be the ones who attempt to follow the Death Eaters when they apparate away. The ones who stay behind will track the apparition, explain to the Order what we've done, get yelled at a little, and then follow."

"How are we supposed to follow them when they apparate?" Hermione asked.

"Just cling to one for dear life right as they're apperating." Fred said with a shrug.

"Alright and what's the plan for when we actually get to wherever we end up?" Ginny asked.

"Well naturally you'll have to get out of sight as quickly as possible." Fred said. He looked at George who nodded. Fred reached under the bench and pulled out a piece of shimmery, water like material. Ron tensed.

"Is that…?" he began.

Fred and George nodded.

"We found it in the trunk Tonks brought from his house."

"Whoever apparates away with the Death Eaters will take this and put it on the very second they arrive. It will be very important. Then you wait a little while before you go looking around the castle. Start in the dungeons, if there is one. That seems the most logical place." Fred said after a while.

"Now remember after you've all disappeared we'll be tracking the apparation using that spell Hermione found. You'll have to find Harry fast and get back outside so the Order can save you." George added.

"Does everyone understand the plan?" Fred asked.

Ron, Hermione, and Ginny nodded determinedly.

"I suppose Ron and I will go to the Prophet first." Hermione offered. Ron nodded and reached out to take the cloak from his brother.

The group walked out of the house together, careful to keep the cloak hidden in case one of the adults should appear. Once they were sure they were in the clear they stepped out of the house and rushed out to the apparition point. George pulled out two sets of deep purple hand held radios. Hermione took one and beamed.

"Is this a walkie-talkie?" she asked. George nodded.

"We saw them lying around in Dad's junk pile and fixed them up. Now we'll be able to keep in touch while you two are at the Prophet and we're stuck here. They're good up to around three hundred or so miles."

Ron took one and slid it into his knapsack. Hermione put hers in her pocket. Fred and George clipped theirs on their belts and Ginny simply held onto hers.

"We'll trade off in two hours." Fred said. Ron and Hermione nodded.

"Be careful you two." Ginny ordered. Her friend and brother nodded again before turning on their heels and disappearing with two soft pops.

Fred, George, and Ginny turned and went back into the house after double checking their walkie-talkies were on and out of sight from Mrs. Weasley's prowling eyes.


	18. prophet problems

Harry sat in the observation room until Snape came to get him an hour later.

"It is time for your second task." Snape said.

Harry nodded and followed the man out of the room and out of the castle.

"Draco's not coming with me."

"That is correct but as I told you, you will have a new partner." Snape said smoothly.

"What if I don't want a new partner? What if I want to do this alone?" Harry asked. He stopped in his tracks, forcing the man to do the same.

Snape studied Harry for a long moment.

"Why would you want to go alone? It is much more difficult without a partner to cover your back."

Harry nodded.

"I figured that but I'd rather go alone then get a new partner."

"I do not understand." Snape said.

Harry shrugged.

"Draco's my partner. No Draco, no partner. It's simple." He said.

The pair continued walking towards the apparation point.

"I do not think it would be wise for you to go at this alone. Your loyalties are admirable but not reasonable in this particular situation. Without a partner it is very unlikely you will succeed." Snape explained.

"All I have to do is go in, threaten the editor not to print anymore stories about our Lord, and leave. What about that says I can't do it on my own?" Harry asked.

"Nothing I suppose but…" Snape began.

"But if the editor does do something stupid and I have to go back to do the second part of the task, then I will take a partner; whether it's Draco or not." Harry said.

Snape sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"The Dark Lord will not be happy about this."

"Then don't tell him. Pretend like you sent me with my new partner and keep them out of sight until I get back. Not too complicated right?" Harry said.

Snape nodded once.

"If you get yourself injured I will first heal you and then kill you."

Harry smirked.

"Fair enough. Now can I have my portkey?" he asked.

Snape handed over a fork and tapped it with his wand. The metal shone a bright blue and Harry grabbed on to it.

"Wish me luck." He said just before he disappeared.

Snape shook his head and turned just in time to see Pansy Parkinson marching up to him looking angry.

"Where'd he go?" she demanded. Snape picked up a stick off the ground.

"Portus." He said.

"Follow him."

Pansy took the stick and with a final glare at the potions master disappeared.

Harry arrived in a dark alley behind the main building for the _Daily Prophet_. He pulled on his mask and pocketed his wand. Voldemort had shown him the article the paper had printed from that first raid Harry went along on. He also thought it might be a good idea to show off his wandless magic a little bit to make sure the editor really got the point.

Harry made his way over the first door he saw. He put his ear to it and listened for approaching footsteps. Harry was just about to go in when he heard a soft pop behind him. He turned and saw a black haired, unpleasant looking girl standing with her hands on her hips.

"Thought you'd leave without me, eh Potter?" she snapped.

"What are you doing here? And who are you?" Harry demanded.

"Pansy Parkinson. You're Harry Potter. We know each other now let's go." Pansy said sharply. She pulled open the door Harry had just been listening to and led the way inside.

The hall was quite except for the soft buzz of voices coming from all the vents lining the walls. Harry followed Pansy until they came to a four way hallway. Four signs labeled the walls; main office, printing press, communications, and travel. Pansy pulled out her wand and laid it on her hand.

"Point me the editor Stan Stevingson."

Harry watched the wand spin until it froze pointing towards the hall labeled main office. Pansy nodded and gestured for Harry to follow her. The hall quickly opened up to a huge lobby complete with a receptionist desk and revolving door. Harry dove back into the shadows of the hall, pulling Pansy with him.

"Hey what do you think you're doing?" Pansy hissed.

"We can't go out there looking like this." Harry answered, gesturing to their Death Eater robes. Pansy rolled her eyes.

"Fine we'll do this the boring way." She said.

Pansy instructed Harry to take off his mask before she aimed her wand at him and muttered a spell.

Harry's jet black hair changed to a deep brown that grew just long enough to cover his scar. His eyes transformed from emerald green to ice blue. Lastly Pansy changed his Death Eater robes into a black suit with a white tie. The teen checked over his appearance and decided it would have to work.

"Okay now you do me." Pansy said.

Harry raised his hand and muttered the spell Pansy had used. He changed her hair to strawberry blonde and her eyes became a pale blue. Harry transformed her robes into a black dress that came down a few inches above her knees. Pansy studied her appearance and nodded approvingly.

"Not bad Potter."

"Thank you." Harry said. Suddenly he froze and tilted his head like confused puppy.

"You look familiar."

Pansy conjured a mirror and studied her appearance.

"No bloody way." She hissed. Pansy quickly flicked her wand and transformed her redish hair to platinum blonde like Draco's.

The pair stepped out into the brightly lit hall together. A few heads turned to look at them but most turned back to their own business. Harry felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched. He looked around discretely and saw a couple standing beside the door. They pretended to be studying the old articles hanging on the walls but every so often the red headed boy would look over at Harry and Pansy and then scan the rest of the crowd. As Harry watched the curly haired girl glanced around as well but much more discretely then her companion. It appeared she was merely trying to get something off her shirt sleeve.

Harry quickly wondered what the pair was up to but quickly shook it off as unimportant. He followed Pansy over to the receptionist's desk and leaned against its smooth surface while Pansy did all the talking.

"I'm looking for Stan Stevingson." She said.

The blonde witch behind the counter popped two bubbles in her gum in a row before smiling at him.

"Alright sweetie do you have an appointment?" she asked in a thick accent that was defiantly not English.

"No I'm afraid I don't." Pansy looked around and leaned closer to the witch, beckoning her to move closer as well. "I'm actually here as a surprise. Stan was a college friend of my dad's and I thought I'd drop in. I have to tell him I'm getting engaged. Oh he'll be so excited for me, I mean us."

The blonde beamed.

"Alright then hun, let me just call ahead and make sure he's not busy."

"Thanks so much." Harry said.

The witch winked and pressed a few numbers on her phone.

"Good afternoon Mr. Stevingson, are you busy?" she asked.

Pansy winked at Harry who could only stare back in surprise.

"You're not? Okay I was just curious. Goodbye Mr. Stevingson." She said. She hung up the phone and winked at Harry.

"He's all free. You can go on in. He's the first office over there on your left."

Harry nodded.

"Thanks so much. You've been a huge help."

The witch beamed and went on to answer a ringing phone.

"Good afternoon. Thank you for calling the _Daily Prophet, _Charlotte Eving speaking."

Harry and Pansy made their way towards the office Charlotte had indicated. Harry ignored the staring eyes of the red head by the door as he pushed the door open.

Ron watched as the brown haired man and his red headed friend entered the editor's office

"How'd they get in there so easily? It took us hours to get in to speak with the editor when we first came in." he complained.

Hermione shrugged.

"Maybe Mr. Stevingson knows them or something. Oh look Ron there's an article all the way back from when Hogwarts was first opened."

Ron nodded but continued to stare at the door of the editor's office. Hermione turned and frowned.

"What are you staring at?" she asked.

"Who were those two?" Ron questioned. Hermione sighed heavily.

"I don't know Ron. We don't know who any of these people are."

"I still can't believe how fast they got into that office I mean…" Ron began but his girlfriend cut him off.

"Let it go Ronald."

Ron crossed his arms over his chest and nodded.

"Fine." He said.

He turned back with Hermione to read about the day Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy finally opened its doors.

Inside the editor's office Harry and Pansy sat in front of the editor's desk. Harry crossed his arms in front of him as Stan Stevingson continued to scribble away on his parchment. He didn't even look up at either of the teen's as he spoke.

"Can I help you with something son?" Stan asked.

Harry nodded.

"As a matter of fact you can."

Harry flicked his wrist and the quill went flying across the room. Finally Stan looked up.

"Hey that wasn't necessary." He snapped.

"I think it was Stan. See we're here on important business and we want to know that we have your undivided attention." Harry snapped his fingers and the parchment Stan had been working on went up in flames. Harry flicked his wrist and the flames went out in a puff of smoke leaving behind a scorch mark in the smooth wood of the desk.

Stan paled several shades as he stared at Harry.

"You're him. You're You-Know-Who's secret weapon." He said.

Harry smiled and nodded.

"Yes I am. I really enjoyed that article by the way. I've never been called a ringer before." Harry said quoting the article.

"We're not here to discuss how much we enjoyed that particular article, however. Unfortunately for you the Dark Lord is less then pleased with how often his name is appearing in your paper. It brings on a lot of unwanted attention." Pansy said smoothly.

Stan swallowed.

"W-we print what the w-world needs t-to know." He stammered. Pansy laughed openly.

"I don't think the world needs to know every little thing we do. Do you?" she asked.

"Y-yes yes I do." Stan said as firmly as he could.

Harry narrowed his eyes and leaned forward in his chair.

"It's unfortunate that you feel that way, Stan because if you don't stop printing what you _think_ the world needs to know we'll make sure you never print anything ever again."

"Y-you can't st-stop me from printing the truth." Stan said.

Pansy stood and leaned his hands on the desk.

"Watch me."

She raised her wand and brought it down in a clean swoop over Stan's right hand. The man cried out in pain as a cutting curse removed his index and middle finger. Blood gushed out onto the table and down Stan's arm. He screamed again but Harry silenced him with a flick of his wrist. Stan opened his mouth to scream but no sound came out. Tears streamed down his face as he rocked his injured hand close to his body.

"Stop printing stories about Voldemort and any of his followers Stevingson or your fingers won't be the only thing I cut off." Pansy growled. She moved closer to Stan.

"If you don't stop printing those stories we will be back. We will destroy this building and we will kill you. Have I made myself completely clear?" she asked.

Harry flicked his hand again.

"Y-yeeesss you horrible bitch!" Stan cried.

Harry slapped the man across the face.

"That is no way to talk to a lady." He said.

Pansy nodded.

"We'll be watching those papers Stan. Don't make us come back here." She hissed.

Pansy stood and led the way out of the office. Harry laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Nice work." He said.

Pansy grinned.

"Not too bad yourself."

Suddenly the world exploded into high pitched siren. Bars came down over all the windows and the doors were blocked. Pansy and Harry spun around and saw Stan standing beside a panic button they hadn't seen.

"Oh shit."

please review


	19. wandless

Hermione and Ron whipped out their wands and spun around wildly. No one was dressed in Death Eater robes so no one knew who to fire at. Suddenly Stan's magnified voice echoed over the chaos.

"Those two! The brown haired young man and the blonde girl!" Stan shouted. Immediately everyone turned their attention to the pair who'd been attempting to get out the same way they'd gotten in. Their exit was quickly blocked by a wall of people.

Pansy and Harry stood in their dueling positions.

"You take left I've got right." Pansy hissed.

"We should stay together, guard each other's backs." Harry argued.

"Do what I say!" Pansy shouted before charging at the right side of the room. Before her first spell was even fired the halls seemed to explode as aurors charged in from the travel hallway. Pansy ran back to Harry who told her to stay behind him.

"Stupefy! PROTEGO!" Harry cried.

"Sectumsempra!" Pansy shouted. The curse caught one auror square in the chest and knocked him from his feet. Pansy jerked on Harry's sleeve.

"We've got to get out of here." She screeched.

Harry nodded and turned to follow his partner out of the crowd.

"STOP!"

Instinctively Harry dove to the ground just in time to see a stunner fire over his head and strike Pansy in the back. She didn't have time to hit the ground before Harry preformed the counter curse. The witch stumbled slightly but continued running.

Behind Pansy and Harry, Ron and Hermione were pushing their way through the crowd as people continued to aim wildly, still unsure who the targets were. The confused prophet workers provided unknowing blocks against the aurors as Pansy and Harry pushed their way towards their exit.

"Don't lose them Ron!" Hermione cried.

Harry skidded to a stop and racked his brain. Where had he heard that name before?

_"Think about Ron and Hermione and your girlfriend, Ginny! They're your best friends Harry you can't forget them!"  
_ Harry spun around and saw the red headed boy and the bushy haired girl who'd been watching him earlier charging towards him with their wands raised.

_If they're my friends why are they trying to capture me?_

Harry thought before shaking his head. He turned to follow Pansy again but she'd disappeared in the crowd. Realizing how alone and exposed he was, Harry threw up a protective shield.

Ron elbowed a man out of his way and charged forward firing stunner after stunner in front of him. Most of the curses caught civilians but the Gryffindor didn't care. He barely had the brown haired man in sight and Ron wasn't about to lose him. Ron saw Hermione running slightly to his right. She too had put her manners aside to charge through the crowd.

The pair watched as their target through up a huge shield.

"Bugger." Ron hissed.

Harry plowed through the crowd and felt curses bounce off of all sides of his shield. Finally he made it into the hall and began sprinting forward. Harry burst out the door leading outside and felt two curses collide with his protective bubble. He spun around to see where the attack had come from. Harry kept his shield up with his left hand and readied his right to strike. Identical red heads came running towards him from opposite ends of the alley way. They continued firing at Harry in rapid succession.

_How did Pansy slip by without getting noticed?_ Harry wondered before the twins were a few feet away from him. Suddenly the door behind Harry burst open and his other two pursuers ran out, almost colliding with Harry's shield.

Harry spun slowly, trying to keep all his opponents in his sight at the same time. He felt the fork poking him through his pocket but it did him no good. He couldn't use the portkey and the shield at the same time but if he dropped the shield one of the four aurors surrounding him would strike. Harry took a deep breath and prepared himself for battle.

All five teens stood poised and ready but none attacked.

"As much fun as it is just standing around, I do have better things to be doing." Harry said. He noticed the younger red headed boy and his partner tense and their focused expressions slipped slightly. Harry raised an eyebrow at them and they stared back.

_That kid has the same hair color I tried to give Pansy._ He realized.

"NOW!" Fred cried.

"Impedimenta!" he and George shouted at the same time.

Caught off guard, Harry's shield shattered. He fell to his knees from the force of the spells but quickly righted himself.

"Stupefy! EXPELLIARMUS!" George shouted.

Harry felt his wand get ripped out of his hand after he dodged the stunning curse.

"Damn." He muttered. "Sectumsepra! Bombarda!"

Harry spun and twisted and dodged, trying to avoid curses coming from all four directions at once but it was quickly becoming too difficult to fend them all off. Throwing caution to the wind Harry jammed his hand into his pocket.

Harry dove to the ground and rolled out of the way of a few stunners and was able to send back a few of his own before he finally pulled the portkey out of his pocket. Harry held it tightly in his hand and concentrated on the Dark Lord's castle to activate it. The portkey glowed blew and Harry smiled triumphantly.

"GO!" George cried. "Trackarium." He shouted aiming his wand at the Death Eater.

The other three Gryffindors dove forward. George shielded his eyes from the flash of the portkey taking on more passengers than expected. When he lowered his arm he saw only one of the three had missed. George walked forward and extended his hand.

"You alright Hermione?" he asked as he helped her up.

The girl nodded and rubbed a sore spot on her arm. She froze when her eyes fell on the wand George was holding.

"Where did you get that?" Hermione asked, knowing the answer but hoping she was wrong.

"I disarmed the Death Eater." George said but scoffed. "A lot of good that did though." He said. "Why do you ask?"

Hermione reached out and took the wand from her friend. She held it in both hands carefully as she stared at it openly.

"What is it 'Mione?" George asked.

Hermione looked up at him with wide, tear filled eyes.

" George, this is Harry's wand."


	20. explinations

George shook his head.

"Are you sure Hermione?" he asked.

Hermione nodded sharply.

"Yes, yes of course I'm sure. I'd know it anywhere."

"What do you suppose that Death Eater was doing with it?" George asked.

Hermione shook her head but couldn't pull her eyes off the wand.

"I dunno. His voice sounded just like…" she began but trailed off.

"What is it?" George asked. Hermione sighed heavily.

"It's just that. His voice sounded so much like Harry's." she said softly. "But of course it couldn't be because he's trapped somewhere and now he's unarmed. Oh George!" She cried.

George sighed and wrapped his arms around his friend. Hermione buried her face into his chest and clung to the back of his cloak as she listened to him whisper soft words of comfort into her ear. Finally her sobs subsided and George gently pushed her away so that he was still holding onto her shoulders but could look her in the face.

"Ron and Fred have gone to save Harry. I'm tracking them right now. Everything is going to be alright, trust me." he said. Hermione wiped her eyes with her cloak sleeve and nodded. George smiled.

"Okay now let's get back home. We can show this to everyone and see what they make of it." He said.

Hermione nodded again and pocketed her wand along with Harry's.

The Gryffindors apparated to the Burrow and sprinted into the house.

"Mr. Weasley, Dumbledore, Professor Lupin!"

"Mum, Tonks, Ginny!"

Arthur walked into the kitchen where the teens were standing. He looked at each of them uncertainly.

"What is it? Where have you two been? Where are Fred and Ron?" Molly demanded as she came in behind her husband. By now all the adults were piled into the kitchen. Ginny squeezed her way to the front of the group and looked Hermione in the eyes. When the brunette nodded Ginny squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath. Hermione and George looked at each other and then at George's violently vibrating wand. The Gryffindor tightened his grip on it knowing that if he dropped it the spell would end and they'd be in a whole world of trouble. Hermione faced the adults who were all staring expectantly at her.

"Before I start I think it would be a good idea if you all promised right now that you will save all comments and questions until the end. No matter what." She said.

"Hermione what's this about?" Arthur asked.

"Just hurry and promise Dad." Ginny said.

The adults nodded.

Hermione took a deep breath before she continued.

"A few days ago Fred, George, Ron, Ginny, and I decided that the Order was not doing enough to get Harry back." She began.

"We've done the best…." Tonks started.

"Tonks, you promised to wait." Ginny reminded the witch. Tonks nodded and fell silent.

"We came up with a plan. Mind you it might not sound like the best plan but it worked because right now we are tracing Ron and Fred as they travel by portkey to the Dark Lord's hide out." Hermione explained. The adults exploded with questions and George shouted over all of them.

"YOU PROMISED TO WAIT!"

Silence fell and George nudged Hermione.

"Go on Mione."

Hermione went on to explain the entire plan leaving out minor details to save time. When she finished she braced herself for an onslaught of questions and angry yelling but none came. The adults were all stunned into silence.

"You put horrible articles in the _Daily Prophet_ to make you-know-who angry, knowing that he would send Death Eaters to sort it out." Molly said slowly.

"Then Ron and Fred jumped one of the Death Eater's as he portkeyed away but George is tracing their journey." Arthur continued.

"Now they are in the hideout, looking for Harry, with only the invisibility cloak to protect them and they are waiting on the Order to come help." Lupin said.

Hermione, George, and Ginny nodded after each comment.

"And how did you end up with two wands, Ms. Granger?" Dumbledore asked, staring at Hermione's pocket.

The Gryffindor looked down and pulled out the extra wand. She held it up for the adults to see and was glad her suspicions were proven correct when Dumbledore's and Lupin's eyes went wide with recognition.

"Harry." They said together.

Hermione nodded.

"The Death Eater had it." She said softly.

Dumbledore reached out his hand and Hermione gently gave him the wand. The headmaster stared at it with an unreadable expression. Suddenly George's wand stopped vibrating. He looked up at Hermione.

"The portkey's been deactivated." He said.

"Can we still trace it?" Ginny asked worriedly.

"Yes but only for a few more minutes. Any longer and the spell will end itself." Hermione explained quickly.

Dumbledore pulled himself out of his trance and stood.

"Remus, get together as many of the Order as you can find as quickly as possible. Arthur, go to the Ministry inform Cornilius that we will be needing as many aurors as possible. Tell him only what is necessary, I'm sure you understand. Everyone is to meet at Hogwarts within five minutes." Dumbledore said. Remus and Arthur nodded before leaving the kitchen.

"Molly, please inform St. Mungo's that they may become quite busy very soon and they should have rooms available and healers at the ready. Nymphadora, Madame Pomfrey is on vacation. Will you be so kind as to retrieve her? Bring her to Hogwarts and explain everything that has happened and she will know what to do."

The witches disappeared from the kitchen and Dumbledore turned on the teens.

"You three come with me." He said.

The headmaster led the way out onto the yard and instructed Hermione to side along apparate with Ginny to Hogwarts. Once they were gone Dumbledore pulled out his wand and put the tip to George's wand tip. He muttered a short spell and a golden strand of light connected the wands before disappearing with a soft flash.

"You will help me share this with the aurors and Order members once they arrive." Dumbledore said. George nodded and apparated to Hogwarts, closely followed by Dumbledore.


	21. questions answered

Fred and Ron landed with a dull thump in the grass. Harry tripped over Ron's arm and crashed to the ground. By the time he got up the red heads were nowhere in sight. Harry looked around with wide eyes. He'd felt himself trip over something but he hadn't been able to tell what it was before it disappeared. Harry took a step forward and looked at the grass. He only saw his own footsteps and the spot where he'd fallen. Deciding he had more important business to tend to Harry turned and headed into the castle.

Ron and Fred stayed completely still for another two full minutes just in case the Death Eater decided to come back. When he didn't they slowly stood, careful to keep the cloak covering their feet. The Weasley boys glanced at each other and nodded simultaneously before making their slow, silent way up to the castle.

Once inside Harry dropped the glamour charm Pansy had put on him and headed straight to where they were supposed to meet Snape when they returned.

"Where is she?" Harry snapped as he threw the door open to the small room before the library. Snape raised an eyebrow.

"Where is who?" he asked.

"Pansy! She left me completely uncovered back there! There were aurors everywhere. If the crowd hadn't been so confused, I would have gotten captured or killed!"

"So it wasn't as simple as you believed it would be." Snape said smoothly.

Harry glared at him.

"I could have done it alone but Pansy ruined everything. She went and cut off the editors fingers and he pressed a panic button. Why wasn't I told about a panic button?!" Harry ranted as he began to pace back and forth angrily.

"I was not aware of a panic button. It is obviously new." Snape said thoughtfully.

"No shit." Harry spat. Snape narrowed his eyes and Harry grunted. "Sorry."

"In answer to your question, Ms. Parkinson returned moments before you did. She decided to freshen herself up before dinner tonight." Snape said.

Harry's hands rolled into tight fists.

"Where is she?" he growled.

Snape gave the teen the directions to Pansy's temporary quarters which she shared with Bellatrix. Harry stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Snape left shortly after.

Harry practically flew through the halls. When he finally reached the door Snape had described, Harry pounded on it with both fists. The door opened a crack and Pansy peeked out. She wore clean casual robes and a towel around her neck. Her short black hair dripped water on the floor as she held the door open.

"What the bloody hell do you want?" she demanded.

Harry glared at her.

"What were you thinking?! You left me back there, completely exposed!" he shouted. Pansy rolled her eyes nonchalantly.

"Last I looked I wasn't your babysitter."

"No you were my partner. You were supposed to cover me."

"You're the one who left without me in the first place!" Pansy retorted.

"But you abandoned me while we were surrounded by aurors!" Harry snapped. "How did you get past those two in the alley anyway?" he questioned.

Pansy shrugged.

"I didn't use the alley. I used the floo to get to my house once all the aurors had gotten through and then portkeyed here."

Harry shook his head.

"You shouldn't have left me. Draco never would have done that."

"Well thank Merlin I'm not him or I'd be in the dungeons and you'd be having a fit in front of someone else."

Harry froze.

"Dungeons?" he said.

"Did I stutter?" she snapped.

"Draco's in the dungeons?" Harry asked, ignoring the snide comment.

"That's what I said. God Potter they said you'd lost your memory, not your common sense."

Harry's glare deepened.

"You're dripping." He hissed.

Pansy looked down and saw that she was standing in a small puddle from her hair. She used her towel to squeeze her hair's ends to stop the dripping.

"Let me help you with that." Harry said. He snapped his fingers and the tips of Pansy's hair burst into flame. The witch screamed and sprinted into her bathroom.

Harry smirked and pulled the door closed before turning and heading towards the stairs.

Ron froze as the sound of footsteps echoed through the corridor. Fred stopped as well but didn't know why until a split second later when a Death Eater rounded a corner just in front of them. Eyes wide and heart pounding the brothers dove against the nearest wall.

"Ow!" Ron gasped as his head collided with the concrete surface. Fred threw his hand over his brother's mouth as the footsteps paused. The Death Eater looked around and the Weasley's were able to get a look of their face just before another Death Eater came up beside him.

"Do you think he's really in the dungeon?" Blaise asked.

Theodore shrugged.

"Why else would they have been talking about it?" he said.

Blaise nodded and the boys continued walking down the corridor away from where Fred and Ron stood motionless. Fred waved his wand in the air and yellow sparks formed the word follow. Ron nodded as much as he could with his brother still holding his mouth shut. Fred lowered his hand and cast a silencing spell on his shoes. Ron did the same.

The Gryffindors followed the Slytherins down two long corridors before they paused outside two large oak doors. Blaise lifted his wand and tapped the right door three times fast and then twice slow. The doors creaked and swung open slowly. Torches burst into life on both sides of the passageway. Their flames lit the way down several antechambers but Blaise and Theodore knew better then to go into any of them. Instead they walked straight.

Ron and Fred followed making sure to keep a good distance between themselves and the Slytherins but suddenly Ron froze. Fred stumbled when he tripped over Ron's foot and almost pulled the cloak off them both. He threw his hands in front of him as he fell and they clapped against the smooth stone. The echo resounded through the corridor.

Blaise and Theodore whipped around with their wands held out in front of them. Fred silently cursed as the Slytherins moved closer to where Fred and Ron stood hidden.

"Who's there?" Theodore demanded.

Blaise glanced at him.

"What makes you think anyone would answer?" he asked.

Theodore shrugged and Blaise shook his head.

"Maybe it was just a rat or something." He suggested.

Theodore nodded once.

"Yeah, maybe." He said.

The pair continued walking down the corridor, throwing occasional glances over their shoulders.

Fred stood and fixed the cloak so that it was still covering his feet. He turned to his brother and smacked him across the back of the head.

"What the bloody hell did you stop for?" he hissed.

Ron raised a shaky hand and pointed at a huge, black spider, the size of saucer hanging on its web. If Ron would have taken two more steps he would have walked face first into the spider. The red head's body shook violently and his eyes were wide with fear as he continued to stare at the hideous creature. The spider flicked its front legs and shifted on its web.

Fred grabbed Ron's arm and slowly pulled him around the spider web and farther up the corridor. Once the spider was out of sight Ron's breath slowed and color began to return to his flushed cheeks. He wiped sweat off his brow and turned to his brother.

"Sorry." He muttered.

Fred nodded and gestured for his brother to continue.

The brothers strained their ears for Blaise and Theodore's voices but it wasn't until after almost two minutes of walking blind that the Slytherin's made themselves known. A few feet ahead of where Fred and Ron stood the passage way forked out. The way to the right was lit but the left was completely dark. Thankfully voices could be heard coming from the right. Sure enough it wasn't long until Fred and Ron saw Blaise and Theodore standing outside a cell. From where the Weasleys stood they couldn't see who they were taunting but could only guess who it could be. Who else would be in the Dark Lord's dungeon?

Ron heard Blaise use the cruciatus curse and the lack of screams confirmed the red heads suspicion of who was in the cell. There was only one person Ron could think of who wouldn't cry out under the torture spell. He looked up at his brother and Fred nodded. The brothers tightened the grip on their wands and readied themselves to attack. Fred tightened his grip on the edge of the cloak so that he wouldn't accidently drop it and held his wand at the ready. He counted backwards from three in his head before ripping the cloak away.

"Stupefy!"

"Expelliarmus!"

Ron caught Theodore's wand while Blaise fell to the ground under Fred's stunner. Theodore spun around quickly but didn't have a chance to see his attackers before Ron dropped him with a stunner.

Fred and Ron sprinted to rest of the way to the cell Theodore and Blaise had been standing at.

"Harry!" Ron cried but froze.

Inside the cell was a figure chained to the wall farthest from the door. His hands were bound above him and his feet were chained to the cell floor. The prisoner didn't seem to have the strength to lift his head but he didn't have to for Ron and Fred to realize who it was.

"Malfoy." They said together.

Draco wearily lifted his head. His exhausted and pain filled face contorted in confusion.

"Weasley?" he said.

The trio was stunned into silence but Draco was first to recover.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"We're here to save Harry. What are you doing here?" Ron responded.

Draco hesitated.

"About Harry…" He began but froze. Ron and Fred stiffened for a moment before throwing the invisibility cloak over themselves. Fred quickly threw disillusion charms on Blaise and Theodore. Just as the last bit of them disappeared Snape came around the corner.

Draco tensed as the potions master stepped uncomfortably close to where Blaise was lying. Snape entered the cell and closed the door behind him. Draco glared at his godfather.

"It is not me you should be angry with Draco. I'm not the one who told you to go against your direct orders not to say anything about Potter's past."

Draco's eyes flicked over to where he'd seen Fred and Ron disappear and hoped they wouldn't do anything stupid if this conversation should take an uncomfortable turn. The Slytherin looked back up to Snape.

"He would have figured it out eventually anyway. I was just helping him remember faster. That potion can't last forever." Draco spat.

"Crucio." Snape snapped.

For the umpteenth time since arriving in the dungeon, Draco felt pain rip through his body. He thrashed against the chains and only succeeded in having them dig deeper into his skin. Snape released the curse and Draco leaned his head back against the wall, breathing heavily.

"Do not speak unless spoken to." Snape said icily. "The potion need not last forever. With the healer's cup in his possession the Dark Lord can administer it whenever needed. I do not believe that will be necessary however." Snape smiled coolly and Draco felt a shiver shoot down his spine.

"Potter has gained magnificent power that the Dark Lord wishes to have for himself."

"Well it's a good thing he's brainwashed Harry to be on his side then isn't it?" Draco snapped.

"Crucio."

Draco thrashed against the curse but bit back cries of pain.

"I believe I told you not to speak out of turn." Snape said. "Merely having Potter on the dark side is not enough. He could turn at any time. He could be captured. Anything could happen and the Dark Lord wants to leave nothing to chance."

Snape ended the spell and leaned close to his godson's ear.

"So after the Dark Lord has dealt with you. He is going to steal Potter's magic and once he's got every ounce of power for himself, the Dark Lord will kill him. There will be no one left to oppose him and all those who do will die. The war is ending Draco and the dark has won."

Snape straightened back up and left the cell. The last of his footsteps faded away before Ron and Fred dropped the cloak. Draco could see they were both extremely pale and shaky. Ron unlocked the cell door and walked in.

"What was all that about?" he asked.

Draco could see it in the red head's eyes that he was not completely in the dark about what he'd over heard. Pieces were falling into place in his mind but Ron refused to let them fit.

The Slytherin sighed heavily.

"The night Harry was attacked he lost his memories of the past seven years. I was told he didn't even know he was a wizard. The Dark Lord has managed to corrupt his mind enough to make Harry think he's fought as a Death Eater all this time." He explained.

Ron stared at him in disbelief.

"That is a sick joke Malfoy. I knew you were low but this..." Ron spat.

Malfoy glared at the red head.

"It's not joke Weasley. I'm not down here because I choose to be. You just saw my own godfather use crucio on me twice. I tried to make Harry remember who he was, what he fought for, and how wrong all of this is but he wouldn't believe me. Snape dragged me away before I could finish explaining everything to Harry and I've been down here ever since."

Ron growled and in a flash his wand was aimed at Malfoy. The blonde glared from the wand up to the Gryffindor.

"Ron." Fred said but his brother ignored him.

"Tell me where Harry is or I'll kill you." Ron hissed.

"He's upstairs, probably waiting for his next assignment." Draco answered.

"DON'T LIE TO ME!" Ron shouted.

Sparks shot out of his wand and Draco's glare deepened. Fred reached out and laid a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"Ron I think he's telling the truth. Harry's in trouble and he doesn't even know it. We have to help him so that we can get out of here when the Order comes." He said.

Draco turned to Fred.

"The Order?" he said.

Fred nodded without looking at the Slytherin.

"George and Hermione tracked us here. They will have gone to Dumbledore and are probably on their way here right now."

All the anger vanished from Draco's eyes and was replaced by sheer desperation.

"Dumbledore's coming?" he asked.

Fred and Ron nodded.

"Probably."

"Oh Gods Harry will try to kill him!" Draco cried.

"What?!" Fred and Ron exclaimed together.

"He has it set in his mind that he will be able to do what Sev couldn't last year. Harry thinks he's powerful enough to kill Dumbledore and I can guarantee if Dumbledore crosses his path Harry will try to do just that."

"Harry would never kill anyone!" Fred shouted.

"Come on Fred let's get out of here and find Harry. The Order should be here soon." Ron said with a final glare at the Slytherin in front of him.

"You have to believe me Weasley! Get out of here before Harry finds you!"

Fred and Ron slammed the cell door shut and disappeared down the corridor without a comment or another look back at Draco. The blonde growled in frustration and hit his head against the wall behind him.

Suddenly a huge explosion shook the walls of the dungeon. Dust and cobwebs floated down from the ceiling, forcing Draco to squeeze his eyes shut tight until the cloud settled. He pulled against his chains, hoping against hope that they'd break off. When they didn't he sagged back against the wall wondering what was going on upstairs as a second rocked through the castle.

"Draco!"

The Slytherin looked up and gasped.

"Harry!" he exclaimed.

"What happened to these two?" Harry asked.

The disillusion charm had faded and Harry was now staring at the two unconscious forms of Theodore and Blaise.

"What's going on upstairs?" Draco asked, ignoring Harry's question.

The raven haired boy flicked his hand once and the cell door opened. He flicked it again and Draco's chains fell of his wrists and ankles. The Slytherin stood and rubbed his sore wrists as Harry began his explanation.

"There are aurors all over the bloody place. They're blasting the front doors, trying to get in. No one can figure out how they even knew how to get here. Voldemort is calling everyone to the main foyer so that we're ready in case the aurors should make it in but I've got other plans in mind." Harry said darkly.

Draco looked at the other boy uneasily.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

Harry shook his head.

"You'll see." He said.

Harry turned his back to Draco and summoned Blaise's wand which he handed to the blonde. Draco looked at it uncertainly.

"I'm going to need someone to cover my back so you'll need a wand. This will have to do since I don't know where yours is." Harry explained.

Draco looked from the wand up to Harry's eyes.

"Harry…" he began but the raven haired boy cut him off.

"Come on before we miss all the fun." Harry said excitedly.

He turned and started running back through the corridors he'd just come through. As he followed Draco wondered how the Weasley's had managed to make it out of the dungeons without seeing Harry.

Upstairs Ron and Fred were just finally leaving the dungeon. They'd heard footsteps coming towards them and had dived into an empty room to hide since they hadn't thought the put the cloak back on after they left Malfoy's cell. The brother's waited until the footsteps faded before they jumped out of their hiding spot and sprinted the rest of the way out of the dungeons and into a war zone.

Death Eaters were running around wildly, trying to throw up barriers over doors that they didn't want the aurors to go into. In all the commotion no one noticed Fred and Ron disappear under the invisibility cloak. It became increasingly difficult for both of them to remain covered, walk quickly, and avoid colliding with any of the Death Eaters.

Both of them stopped walking as the third and most violent explosion yet shot through the castle walls. Large chunks of ceiling crashed down on the crowded Death Eaters. A few threw shields up just in time to save themselves from being crushed, others weren't so lucky.

"What are we going to do? There's no way we'll be able to find Harry in all this." Ron asked.

Fred was silent for a moment.

"Maybe we should get outside. Dumbledore needs to know what Draco said."

"Why! None of it was true!" Ron exclaimed.

Fred looked around quickly to make sure his brother wasn't over heard and was relieved that all the Death Eaters were still running around, trying to get into defensive positions and keep the main doors from caving.

"Then why isn't Harry in the dungeon?"

"He's being held somewhere else?"

"What about what Snape said to Draco about Harry gaining more power? How else would Harry have done that if he wasn't able to train?"

"He's always been good at dueling and stuff."

"Snape actually said that Harry was on their side now! He had no idea we were there. He would have had no reason to lie! Look at the facts Ron. Something's happened and Harry has switched sides. That's the only thing that could explain how Harry's managed to survive for so long." Fred said.

Ron stared at his brother for a long moment.

"Now come on. We have to tell Dumble….RON!"

Ron ripped off the invisibility cloak so that it was only covering Fred. The Gryffindor took off running along the wall, in clear view of any Death Eater that happened to look in his direction.

"Harry!" Ron shouted.

He threw up a shield as more chunks of ceiling crashed down around him. Ron waited for the dust to settle before continuing on shouting out his best friend's name.

Harry and Draco emerged from the dungeons right as Ron burst out of the invisibility cloak. Harry been looking in the opposite direction at the time but he was slowly scanning the room Draco quickly pushed him away from Ron.

"What are you doing?" Harry snapped.

"We were standing under a weak spot in the ceiling, another explosion would have brought it down on us." Draco explained.

Harry thought for a moment before nodding and accepting the lie.

"Alright."

A split second later the boys were thrown off their feet as the castle doors were blown to bits. Draco hit the wall. Harry slammed hard into Draco. The pair slid to the ground but Harry quickly hopped back up and extended his hand to help his partner to stand. Draco took the offered hand and rubbed a sore spot on his shoulder. Harry didn't have a chance to make sure his friend was alright before at least 50 aurors swarmed into the main area. Death Eaters shot a long stream of curses at their attackers but the aurors threw up a powerful shield that absorbed it all. Things quickly got violent as rogue curses soared past one target just to strike down another. Harry shoved Draco to the side just before a huge chunk of the ceiling came crashing down.

The boys stood and Draco had just enough time to thank Harry before the raven haired boy took off running.

"Where are you going?" Draco shouted, his voice was all but lost in the sounds of the battle but Harry managed to hear him.

"To find Dumbledore!" Harry shouted back.

Draco felt his heart constrict. If Harry found the old man he would almost certainly kill him. Dumbledore wouldn't want to harm his favorite student and shields couldn't block the killing curse. Draco hesitated for a moment before running after his friend. To his surprise Harry hadn't gotten very far before he'd been picked up in a battle with an auror who was as confused as Draco had ever seen anyone. Harry was ruthless with his attack but the auror just shielded himself, unsure of what else he should do. He knew he was against Harry Potter and he also knew the wizarding world would have his head if he did anything to the boy who lived but by the way the teen was battling the aurors choices were grim; either take out the young hero or be killed by him.

Draco watched as realization settled onto the young aurors features but didn't wait for him to act.

"Stupefy!" the blonde shouted.

The auror crumpled. He hadn't noticed Draco appear and wasn't able to throw up a shield in time to protect himself. Harry turned to his partner.

"I was handling it." He said.

Draco nodded.

"I know I just thought I'd help things move along." He lied. In truth the Slytherin knew that if the auror had taken his shot Harry would have easily blocked it and possibly attacked with something that would kill his opponent. Draco knew Harry would never be able to live with the knowledge that he'd killed someone.

_If he ever goes back to himself that is._ Draco thought grimly.

Suddenly Harry grabbed Draco's shoulder and pulled him close while he pointed with his other hand.

"Look over there! That's one of the aurors that tried to attack me at the _Daily Prophet._" He said.

Draco followed where Harry was pointing and felt his breath catch. Harry was pointing at Ron who was locked in an intense battle with one of the few junior death eaters Draco had never met before.

"Forget about him. Let's get out of here." Draco urged.

Harry looked at him curiously.

"Have you lost your mind? I'm going to take care of that blood traitor and then I'm going after Dumbledore."

For a moment Draco was taken aback by the ugly title Harry used. The Slytherin guessed Harry must have picked it up when he overheard senior Death Eaters talking. Harry started walking towards Ron but Draco reached out and grabbed his wrist. Harry looked from Draco's hand up to the blonde's eyes.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked.

"I can't let you do this Harry." Draco said.

Harry's eyes narrowed. He jerked his arm free of Draco's grasp but didn't move away.

"I don't need your permission Draco." Harry hissed. "You know, I thought Snape was lying about your brain being scrambled because of some accident or what not but you're beginning to make me think he's telling the truth. All that garbage about me not being on the Dark side and whatever else you said didn't make any sense but I decided not to hold it against you. Now you're standing here trying to keep me from a battle against someone who attacked me and a man who's trying to bring down our Lord." Harry shook his head. "Somehow I'm beginning to think it wasn't Snape who's been lying to me."

With a final glare at his former partner Harry began making his way through the crowd. For a moment Draco stared openly after him. He couldn't believe anything he'd just heard. Snape had convinced Harry that it was _Draco's_ mind who as addled. Draco watched Harry's slow advance towards Ron and quickly realized what he was going to have to do.

Draco threw a shield over himself with Blaise's wand and then started weaving his way through the battle that raged all around him. A few times the blonde thought his shield would fall when multiple curses struck it at once but Draco was able to poor enough power into it to keep it up. As he ran Draco had to force himself to ignore the bodies strewn across the floor. He tried not to step on them but at the same time couldn't allow himself to slow down or Harry would reach Ron long before he did.

Draco craned his neck and could just make out Ron still battling with the same death eater. The red head seemed to have the upper hand in the duel but that would change as soon as Harry got a hold of him. Draco scanned the area and saw Harry a few yards to his right and barely a few feet behind him. The pair would most likely reach Ron at the exact same time.

Harry elbowed and blasted his way through the crowd, his sights never leaving the red headed auror. If anyone crossed his path Harry simply swung his arm and sent them flying thirty feet into the air. Harry smiled as the crowd broke and he finally had an open shot at his target. He raised his right hand and took aim.

Draco stumbled forward when the tight crowd around him finally broke. The wand slipped out of his hand but Draco saw that he wouldn't have time to pick it up. Harry had made it first and was now taking aim. Forgetting the fallen wand Draco took three huge strides forward.

Harry watched the scene unfold almost in slow motion. The powerful cutting curse left the tips of his fingers and shot through the air towards its target. A split second before it sliced through the unsuspecting auror Draco threw in front of the red head, taking the full hit of the spell in his chest and stomach. By now Ron had ended the duel and had turned just in time to see a spell get fired at him and then Draco jumping in the way before it hit.

Draco collapsed to the ground and didn't rise. One hand shot to his chest, the other to his stomach, still leaving a large part of the wound uncovered. Ron fell to one knee beside the Slytherin who was struggling to breathe through the excruciating pain coursing through is body. He clenched his teeth and hissed in agony as blood gushed out of the wound. Ron could only watch the blonde suffer, not knowing what else to do. He looked around, trying to find someone who could help him but everyone was engaged in battle. Suddenly he spotted someone that made his spirits and heart soar.

"HARRY!" Ron exclaimed.

Draco barely registered the name and even when he did he couldn't bring himself to warn Ron. The red head stood and moved to take a step towards Harry but froze at the expression on his best friend's face.

"All you alright Harry?" he said uncertainly.

Harry's eyes were narrowed and burned with anger. His hands were at his sides as he slowly walked forward.

"That curse was meant for you." He growled.

Ron looked as if he'd been slapped in the face. He even took a step back as if the words had physically plowed into him.

"What?" The single word was all the Gryffindor could manage.

Now Harry was only five feet away. His eyes darted down to his quickly fading partner and then back up to Ron.

"It's your fault he's about to die!" Harry hissed.

"No…" Ron started. He was vastly confused. The red head looked down at the paling Slytherin and remembered what he'd said down in the dungeon. Draco had tried to warn him that this wasn't the Harry Ron was so desperately looking for. Ron had chosen not to believe the Slytherin and this was the result. Draco was minutes from death and Harry was undoubtedly about to kill his best friend without a second thought.

"Harry look at me! It's Ron your best friend!" Ron tried.

"Impedimenta!" Harry shouted.

Ron threw himself out of the way and barely kept his footing. The wall behind him was completely shattered, opening up to the night outside. Thunder rolled and lightning crashed, reflecting the battle that was raging inside the castle.

"Bombarda!" Harry shouted. He aimed his wand at the small bit of ceiling above Ron. The rock cracked and crashed down. Ron dove towards Draco as he threw up a shield to cover them both from the debris. Harry fired another storm of curses on Ron before the dust even settled but the red head's shield held. When he was finally able to see again Ron stood, letting the protective bubble fall. Draco groaned weakly on the ground. The sound seemed to add to Harry's already blazing fury.

"You will pay!" he shouted.

"I didn't do anything! I came to rescue you!" Ron argued.

"Sectumsempra! You attacked me at the _Daily Prophet!_" Harry shouted.

"Protego!" What? you weren't even there!"

"You followed me through the lobby, then out to the alley! CRUCIO!"

Ron dove to the ground, he felt the curse fly over his shoulder, so close it actually burned through his cloak. He shook his head as he pushed himself back into a standing position.

"You were in disguise! How was I supposed to know it was you?" Ron reasoned.

With no good answer Harry released a torrent of violent curses that Ron barely managed to dodge or block. The last curse caught him in his left arm. Caught off guard Ron hissed and looked up at Harry with hurt shining in his eyes.

"How can you not remember me? We've been best mates for seven years!" he shouted.

Harry laughed coldly.

"Even if I'd never lost my memory how could I ever be friends with you? I've got power, you are weak."

Draco shifted painfully on the ground. His face was deathly pale and his hands shook slightly but he grabbed Ron's attention and looked him square in the eyes.

"Fight back or he will kill you." Draco said heavily.

Ron looked back at Harry who seemed to be gathering up his strength for a final shot. The red head looked back at Draco and then back at Harry. Ron looked from one to the other two more times before tightening the grip on his wand as he raised it. A single tear slid out of Ron's right eye. He blinked hard to keep any more from falling.

"Please don't make me do this." He begged Harry.

"Don't do it." Harry said slowly a smirk formed over his face. "It'll make my job that much easier. Avada Kedavra!"

"Protego!" Ron shouted. He'd felt Harry was about to shoot a curse but he hadn't expected an unforgivable. The curses collided in mid air and Ron expected the killing curse to slice through his pathetic spell. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth waiting for his world to end. A moment passed and then a couple seconds. Ron cracked open an eye and then opened the other. His mouth fell open in complete shock. The curses were still struggling in between Harry and Ron. Harry was as shocked as Ron was but his fury pulled him back to his senses.

"You can't block unforgivables!" He shouted.

"I know that!" Ron shouted back. He had no idea how he was doing whatever it was he was doing but he didn't want to know what would happen if it stopped. Ron continued to pour his heart and soul into the spell, hoping to push the curse away.

"I will kill you!" Harry cried.

"I can't hurt you Harry! I won't hurt you. I don't care if you remember me or not! You are my best friend!"

As he spoke the red light coming from Ron's wand began to push the green light coming from Harry's hand back towards Harry's outstretched palms.

"I stayed by you when you went after the sorcerer's stone! I went with you into the chamber of secrets. I was there when everyone thought you were lying about you-know-who. I followed you to the ministry!" Ron shouted. If Harry had really lost his memories then Ron was going to force him to remember. Ron noticed that the more he talked the farther away the curses traveled from him.

"LIES!" Harry cried out desperately.

"NO! Listen to me!" Ron shouted. "I came for you when you were trapped in Privite Drive! You and I made it on the Quidditch team together!"

Harry cried out in pain as his head throbbed nastily. His hand slipped and the curses jumped towards him but he took control again a split second later.

"Keep going." Draco urged from the ground. The edges of Draco's vision kept growing blacker but he wouldn't let darkness consume him until he saw how this ended.

"You come to my house every single summer! What's my house called Harry! I know you know this, what is my house called!"

"I don't know!" Harry shouted back but he cried out painfully as his head swam. "The burrow!"

Harry fell to one knee but kept his control over the curses in front of him.

"We got sorted together in our first year! You and I were panicking because I thought we'd have to battle a troll. What house were we sorted into?" Ron shouted.

For a moment Harry didn't respond, his vision flashed.

"Slytherin!" The curses froze before making their way back towards Ron. Harry clenched his teeth. "I am a Slyther…AAAHHH…. GRYFFINDOR! We are in Gryffindor"

The curses switched tracks again. They were only about a foot away from Harry's hand and Ron knew it was time to drive them home.

"You're girlfriend is my sister! What is her name?" Ron cried.

Harry braced himself against the floor with his left hand, keeping his right hand in the air to control the curses. Refusing to give into the flood of memories Harry refused to believe were true, he clenched his teeth and glared up at the red head in front of him.

"I wouldn't date a blood traitor!" He hissed. Pain seared through his head but the curses had switched tracks again.

"NO! What is my sister's name!" Ron shouted, ignoring the dirty name his friend had used. Pictures of a pretty young red headed girl flashed through Harry's name and one word forced itself out of his throat.

"Ginny." He spat.

By now the gate keeping all of Harry's memories from reaching his conscious thoughts had collapsed. Pictures, voices, and scenes burst into Harry's mind. Ron watched his friend struggle on the ground. Harry's face was contorted in pain and his whole body was shaking violently.

"You have been fighting in this war since your first year. What side have you been fighting on?"

Harry forced his lips together. He shook his head as the answer fought its way from his brain to his mouth. Finally Harry was unable to contain it any longer.

"The LIGHT!"

The curses completed the last few inches towards Harry's hand. The raven haired boy cried out as they slammed into his palm. He was thrown backwards several feet. Harry plowed through a group of Death Eaters before he skidded to a stop on the concrete floor where he lay unmoving.

Ron rushed over to his friend's side. He fell to his knees and struggled to find Harry's pulse, holding his breath the entire time. Ron began to panic when he couldn't find a pulse in Harry's neck. The red head quickly grabbed his friend's wrist and flipped it over. He released his breath and let his head fall forward as exhaustion and overwhelming happiness swept over him. Ron looked over at Draco who was still struggling to stay conscious.

"He's alive." He cried.

A small smile fluttered over Draco's face before his eyes slid closed as he finally let himself fall unconscious. Ron lifted Harry into his arms and carried him over to Draco's side where he gently laid him back down. The red head conjured two stretchers and levitated each boy onto one. He conjured soft ropes to hold the boys in place. Finally Ron levitated them over to the hole Harry had blasted through the wall. He eased the stretchers out of the hole before hopping through the hole himself. Thunder rumbled again and a few drops of rain pelted Ron in the face but he ignored them as he made his way to the front of the castle. He was surprised to see that very few aurors had been left outside, most of them had made it into the castle by now. Ron carefully lowered the unconscious boys to the ground.

"Expecto Patronum!" He said.

A silvery terrier appeared. Ron knelt down and whispered a message into its ear.

"To Dumbledore,I've got Harry. He's injured. Headed to rendezvous site. Ron."

He flicked his wand and the patronus took off running back the way Ron had just come. The red head watched it disappeared before reaching into his shirt and pulling out a ring that had been fastened on a string around his neck. He pulled the chain off his neck and fastened it around a bar on each stretcher before clamping onto it with his own hand. Ron tapped on the chain with his wand and felt the familiar tug around his naval.


	22. the end

Ron jumped violently when he felt something touch his shoulder. He looked around, trying to rid his eyes of sleep.

"Calm down dear boy."

Ron visibly relaxed at the sound of Dumbledore's soft voice. He rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. It took a moment for Ron to realize he was in the hospital wing at Hogwarts. Draco was unconscious behind him and Harry was the same in the bed in front of him. Neither teen had made much change in the hours they'd been under Madame Pomfrey's care. Ron himself had needed minimal attention. He had a bandage over his right eye for a small injury he'd received in his duel before Harry and a wrap on his right wrist for reasons he didn't know.

"I must have fallen asleep." Ron said needlessly.

Dumbledore smiled and nodded.

"It is very late but I felt I should come speak with you and possibly escort you to a more comfortable sleeping area."

Ron shook his head.

"Thanks but I'll stay down here with Harry if that's alright."

Dumbledore nodded once more.

"Of course."

"What is it you needed to talk to me about?" Ron asked as Dumbledore conjured himself a soft looking chair. The headmaster made himself comfortable and studied the teen for a moment. Ron resisted the urge to squirm under the man's gaze and was relieved when he finally spoke.

"Did Harry ever tell you what happened between him and Voldemort in the graveyard in your fourth year?" he asked.

Ron thought for a moment before nodding.

"Yeah he said their wands connected probably like ours did tonight. I don't understand though, my wand is nothing like Harry's so how could our spells have connected like that?"

"If you noticed, Harry wasn't using a wand. Therefore the type of wands has nothing to do with this situation. It is more the intension or feelings behind the magic used. You used a defensive spell because you could not bring yourself to attack your friend even though he was attacking you. Harry used the killing curse because it was what he was trained to use although judging from Mr. Malfoy's injury, Harry preferred the cutting curse he learned last year. Harry had no real desire to kill you Mr. Weasley, no matter what he said. He was acting the way he thought he was supposed to but deep down he would have never have done such a thing." Dumbledore said.

Ron nodded and looked at his friend.

"But he didn't remember me. In his eyes I was the enemy. He did want me dead." He admitted quietly.

"If Harry had truly wanted you dead, you would not be sitting before me right now. Let me try to make this as clear for you as possible." Dumbledore said. "Without the true desire to kill behind it the killing curse is merely a more destructive form of impedimenta. It will cause serious damage that could lead to death but will not cause it immediately. On the other hand a shielding curse such as the one you used can become all the more powerful when one puts enough need for protection behind it. You, Ronald, were not only trying to protect yourself but also your friend in doing so you actually managed to make you spell more powerful than Harry's.

"The two spells connected like they did because the stronger curse had become weaker and the weaker one stronger but even so it is still impossible to block an unforgivable therefore the two spells merely combined; neither one moving any closer to its target."

Ron took a moment to absorb the information before looking at the headmaster with a raised eyebrow.

"But the curses did move. That's how Harry got hurt. I pushed both curses into him."

Dumbledore nodded.

"Yes but it wasn't the original curses that did the moving. You were so desperate to have Harry remember who he really was and the relationship that the two of you share that that raw emotion actually became a second part to your curse. So whenever you tried to make Harry remember you gained the upper hand so the curses moved towards Harry. On the other hand, Harry was trying to cling to what he thought was the truth. Whenever he tried to go against his own memories it pushed the curses back your way. Eventually your perseverance shattered the barrier that made it so difficult for Harry to remember anything."

Ron shook his head and ran a hand through his hair.

"Alright then." He said. "So is Harry going to be alright?"

Now it was Dumbledore's turn to glance at the unconscious teen in the bed before him. Harry looked as if he were merely asleep.

"It's hard to say my boy. If he does wake up Madame Pomfrey believes he will make a full recovery. There's no way to tell what state his memory will be in however." Dumbledore said sadly.

Ron sighed heavily but nodded.

"As long as he doesn't think he's the next Dark Lord I think it'll be alright."

Dumbledore chuckled and stood. He laid his hand on Ron's shoulder and squeezed slightly. Ron looked up at the headmaster.

"You did an excellent job my boy. Your loyalties are beyond those I have ever seen before." He said.

Ron smiled.

"Thank you sir."

Dumbledore returned the smile and turned to leave but stopped when Ron called him back.

"Yes?" he asked.

Ron gestured at the bed behind him.

"What about Malfoy?" he asked.

The smile faded from Dumbledore's face and his eyes lost a bit of their sparkle.

"Mr. Malfoy is in for a far more painful recovery than Harry. He has massive internal damage that Madame Pomfrey was barely able to fix before his body reached its maximum magical intake. He could wake up at any time since there was no damage to his brain but I'm sorry to say he will be in quite a bit of pain for the next several weeks." He explained.

Ron nodded and studied the Slytherin.

"That could be me." He said softly. He hadn't meant for the headmaster to hear his words but he had.

"Draco Malfoy is a special individual. His life is covered in darkness and yet a light burns deep within his soul. He is constantly at battle with himself because of it. By saving you I think he's chosen which side of him will live on and which will slowly be weeded out."

Ron nodded silently and heard the hospital wing door click shut as Dumbledore let himself out. The Gryffindor found he was extremely tired but couldn't get his mind to slow down long enough to get to sleep. Instead he settled for staring out the hospital wing windows. It was still raining outside and the occasional strike of lightning lit up the grounds below.

Almost an hour after Dumbledore had left Ron heard a soft groan coming from one of the beds behind him. He turned to Harry's first hoping against hope that the teen would be awake but the raven haired boy was still completely out. Ron turned the other way and saw Draco struggling to sit up in bed.

Ron stood and walked over to the Slytherin's bedside. He helped Draco sit up against his pillows and handed him a glass of water once he was situated. Draco winced as he swallowed and leaned back heavily against his pillows.

"Thank you." Ron said suddenly.

Draco nodded fractionally, knowing what the Gryffindor was thanking him for even without asking. After a moment he gestured towards Harry's bed with his head.

Ron followed the Slytherin's gaze and nodded.

"If he wakes up, he should be fine. Dumbledore said we won't be able to know what his memory is like until he wakes up so it's pretty much a waiting game right now."

Ron shifted from one foot to another uncomfortably, an action that didn't go unnoticed by Draco. The Slytherin winced as he shifted slightly.

"Something you want to say?" he asked.

Ron shrugged but after a moment nodded.

"I want to know why you did it. You obviously knew what Harry was going to do so why'd you jump in front of me?" he asked.

Draco studied the far wall for a moment before blinking and looking into Ron's eyes.

"Because I knew if something happened to you, Harry would never forgive himself." He whispered.

Ron was slightly taken aback by the response but nodded.

"But what about you? Don't you think he'll feel bad for doing this to you?" he asked.

Draco smirked and barely shook his head.

"You and I both know who'd he'd choose if he had to pick one of use to cut down." A dark look came over the Slytherin's features. "It's pretty much just like last year when Harry first discovered that curse from that potion book."

Ron remembered that night but didn't comment.

"He'll still feel awful about it." Ron said.

Draco shrugged but winced violently as pain shot through his chest. He hissed as he waited for the pain to pass before looking up at Ron.

"He'll get over it." He said. Suddenly Draco noticed the chair Ron had been sitting in when he'd first regained consciousness.

"How long have you been in here?" he asked.

Ron shrugged.

"Since we got back."

"Why don't you go to bed or something? I'm not getting back to sleep tonight and I'll call Madame Pomfrey if Harry wakes up."

Ron shook his head.

"Thanks but I'll be fine." He said. He walked over to Dumbledore's chair and slid back into it and continued watching the stars.

Draco leaned back against his pillows and took a deep breath which he released as a sharp pain shot through his chest. He clenched his fists for a moment but the pain eased and he was able to relax slightly.

It wasn't long before he heard soft grunts coming from the chair by the window. He smirked and shook his head.

_Figures he snores._ He thought.

Without anything to occupy himself, Draco replayed the events of the night in his mind. He remembered diving in front of Ron and then the odd feeling of going completely numb and almost passing out from the pain. Draco shook his head trying to rid that particular part of the memory out of his mind. He looked over at Harry who seemed to be stirring slightly in his bed.

"Harry?" Draco called softly.

The Gryffindor shifted uncomfortably and pain flashed over his face. His eyes flickered as he tried to open them.

"Come on Harry." Draco urged.

Suddenly Draco's call was answered by once vibrant green eyes that had been dulled by pain and exhaustion.

"What's happened?" Harry groaned weakly.

"What do you remember?" Draco asked nervously.

Harry turned away from the Slytherin and blinked a few times. His silence made Draco incredibly uncomfortable.

"I remember getting attacked. It was on my birthday." Harry whispered. He winced as his head throbbed violently every time he opened his mouth.

"What happened next?" Draco questioned.

Harry felt silent again. He closed his eyes in concentration and struggled to piece his shattered thoughts back together.

"A castle. It's big and white. Casa…Casa something." Harry said.

"Novair?" Draco offered.

Harry nodded fractionally.

"Yeah Casa Novair, you and I went there. We got a cup, the healer's cup, for Voldemort. Then I think he used it against me."

Harry swallowed painfully and struggled to recall more events.

"The _Daily Prophet." _He said.

Draco nodded as much as he could. He was relieved beyond words that Harry could remember everything.

Suddenly Harry's eyes went wide and he twisted his head to face the Slytherin.

"Oh gods." He said.

Draco didn't have to ask what the Gryffindor was talking about.

"Harry…" he began.

"I did it again! I could have killed you but I was going for Ron! Oh Merlin." Harry cried.

"Harry!" Draco snapped.

The raven haired boy turned to his friend with despair on every inch of his face.

"You didn't do anything. It was Voldemort." Draco hid his shudder and continued. "You would never attack Ron, I know that, he knows that, you should know that. No one blames you for anything that has happened so don't blame yourself." He said firmly.

"But…" Harry began.

"But nothing Potter. End of story, case closed." Draco said.

Harry looked ready to argue but a stern look from the Slytherin silenced him. He fell back against his pillows and stared at the ceiling.

"I remember everything." He whispered.

"Draco nodded slightly.

"I figured you might." He said.

"I can't believe I did wandless magic." Harry said.

Draco smirked.

"That was definitely interesting. Do you think you can still do it?" he asked.

Harry shrugged and looked around the room. He spotted a cup of water sitting just barely out of his reach on his bedside table. Harry extended his hand and focused on the cup sliding into his palm. When it did he grinned.

"It doesn't feel as easy as it did before but that's alright."

The boys laughed lightly but Draco's chuckle quickly faded into a pained hiss. Harry looked at him guiltily. Draco met the expression with his own hard glare and Harry swallowed his words and forced up new ones.

"So this is a great way to start the year." Harry said.

Draco nodded.

"Term starts next week, plenty of time for us to get into more trouble. That's what you Gryffindors are good at isn't it?"

Harry laughed softly.

"It's not like we go looking for trouble. We just happen to find it every year."

Draco scoffed.

"Whatever you say."

For a moment the boys were silent but then a question popped into Harry's mind.

"So what are you going to do until term starts?" he asked.

Draco looked away from the other boy and continued to avoid his gaze for a long while. Harry immediately wished he hadn't voiced the question.

"Where's your mum?" Harry asked, hoping for a more positive reaction from the Slytherin.

Draco cleared his throat.

"She's gone." He whispered.

Harry's eyes went wide.

"What? What happened?" he asked.

"She didn't want me to be a death eater. My dad did. She didn't stand a chance." Draco said. His voice was so soft and cracked Harry could barely understand what he said.

Draco squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath but gasped as pain seared through him once again. He ripped a pillow out from behind his head and covered his face with it. Harry couldn't tell if the Slytherin was crying or just struggling to keep his pain hidden. He looked away, figuring he should give the other teen a moment of privacy.

Almost twenty minutes passed before Draco lowered the pillow. He didn't look at Harry or speak at all.

Harry sat in silence as well for a moment before he took a deep breath and rubbed the sides of his head where his head throbbed slightly.

"My godfather left me his house when he died. I'm going to move into as soon as school lets out. Ron and I are going to clean it out a bit so it's not so dark and depressing.**"** Harry said. Draco remained silent but Harry could tell he was listening.

"Hermione's joined a foreign study program so she'll be traveling for the next year next several months but Ron's going to be living with me and you know it's a pretty big house for just two guys."

Draco shifted and looked at the Gryffindor with a curious expression.

"What are you getting at?" he asked. His voice cracked with emotion but Harry didn't comment.

"If you really have nowhere to go, I'd be happy to have you live with us. If you want you could have a whole floor to yourself so you'd never have to see Ron or me."

Draco scoffed and turned back to staring at the ceiling.

"You're only saying that because you feel bad for slicing me open." He said in a low voice.

"No. If I was going to do something just because I felt bad I'll give you all of my desert for the rest of my life or something stupid like that. This is an offer from one friend to another." Harry said.

Draco shook his head and Harry sighed.

"Well if you change your mind, I'll be around."

Harry waited for a while, hoping against hope that the Slytherin might comment in one way or another but when none came Harry swallowed the dreamless sleep potion on his bedside table and allowed himself to drift off.

Draco continued to stare at the ceiling for a while, lost in his thoughts.

"Harry?" he called.

No answer came. Draco looked at the bed beside his and saw that the Gryffindor was asleep. Draco sighed and forced himself to fall asleep as well. He hadn't been given a dreamless sleep potion and he guessed it was probably to make sure the potion didn't mix badly with the other spells and things floating around Draco's bloodstream.

Harry was allowed to leave a few days later. Everyday leading up to his departure, groups of people would come up to visit him. The Gryffindor always made a special effort to include Draco in the conversations. The Slytherin was visibly uncomfortable for the first few minutes but would eventually relax enough to enjoy himself.

Too much movement or deep breaths still caused Draco severe pain. Madame Pomfrey made sure to give the Slytherin regular doses of pain potion to help ease the severity but there were still some nights when Draco had to struggle not to cry out.

On his last night Harry sat in a chair at Draco's bedside and offered the Slytherin living space in his future home. Draco had declined saying that he still thought the offer was only being made out of guilt. No matter how hard Harry tried to make the Slytherin know that it wasn't the case, Draco wouldn't but it.

Draco remained in the hospital until the first day of term. He was released in time for the feast but was ordered to come in for regular check-ups.

Now the Slytherin was standing just down the corridor from the Great hall. The sorting had ended a few moments ago and he could smell the enticing scent of all the food as it appeared in front of the houses.

Something kept the Slytherin in his spot. His feet seemed to refuse to take the final steps to the Great Hall. Suddenly he felt a hand touch his shoulder. He looked up and saw Dumbledore looking down at him with warm eyes. Draco was surprised to see the man out here. Shouldn't he be in enjoying his dinner and preparing to give the start of term speech?

"I understand your hesitance to enter the Great Hall." Dumbledore said. Draco looked away from the headmaster and stared at the doors through which he could hear the laughter of a hundred carefree kids enjoying their meal.

"Making the decision you made will change everything. Your housemates will not treat you the same. You will not be able to return home when the term ends. You are undoubtedly wondering if you truly made the right choice."

Without looking at Dumbledore Draco nodded.

"Try to think of it this way my boy. If you hadn't done what you did, Harry may very well have killed his best friend. If you had done what was expected of you, Harry would still be in the hands of Lord Voldemort and you would most likely be receiving your Dark Mark, something your mother died trying to prevent."

Draco's heart constricted at the mention of his mother but he showed no outward emotion.

"Difficult times lie ahead for you but do not make the mistake of believing you have to face them alone."

Dumbledore squeezed Draco's shoulder once before turning to make his way to the teachers entrance to the Great Hall.

Draco stood there for another moment before closing his eyes and taking the first step.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny sat towards the edge of the Gryffindor table laughing about some joke Ron had just told. Harry was first to notice the new arrival to the table.

"Draco." He said in more surprise than anything else.

Draco glanced at the Slytherin table and saw all his old friends glaring daggers at him. He knew the moment he sat down he would be shunned from that group forever. He may very well have to find somewhere else to live for the rest of the year since it would be dangerous to his health to return to the Slytherin common room. Draco turned back to Harry and the rest.

"Can I join you?" he asked.

Harry looked around at his friends who tried to hide their surprise but failed miserably.

"Of course." Harry slid over a seat so that Draco could sit between him and Ron. Ron greeted the Slytherin. For a moment no one spoke.

"So Draco you've got to hear this joke Ron just told us." Ginny said.

Harry smiled thankfully at the girl.

Draco glanced at Ron who was smiling wide and insisting that the Slytherin wouldn't want to hear it.

"No, no this sounds good." Draco said.

Ron nodded.

"Alright then."

Dumbledore watched from the head table. He smiled when Draco burst into laughter with the rest of the group. The headmaster knew Draco was hiding pain caused by the laughter.

Eventually Draco took a quick trip to Diagon Alley to get a new wand. The rest of the year Draco lived in the Room of Requirement. He met up with Harry and the others in time for breakfast and spent the rest of the day with them until they had to return to their common room to go to bed. Slowly other Gryffindors accepted Draco's presence among them and soon the Slytherin was happier then he'd ever been.

On the last week of the school year Draco pulled Harry aside.

"Is everything alright?" Harry asked.

Draco nodded.

"Yeah I was just wondering…." He started but trailed off. Harry waited patiently for his friend to find his words.

"Does that offer still stand?" Draco asked.

Harry beamed.

"Really?" he asked.

Draco nodded.

"I can't live at Hogwarts forever." He said.

Harry chuckled and gently pushed Draco in the arm.

"That's true. Of course the offer still stands. We'll be moving in the day after term ends. It's going to be a lot of work getting the house habitable but I think it'll be fun." Harry said.

Draco groaned.

"Work."

The pair laughed and walked off to find their friends.

And that my friends is the end…Now I'm working on a sequel but I haven't decided whether or not I'm going to post it. Review and let me know what you think. I love hearing from my readers so talk to me peoples tell me your likes dislikes…anything! Thanks for reading-

Lil Prongs Chicky


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